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Air Facts was first published in 1938 by Leighton Collins, dedicated to “the development of private air transportation.” It’s a different world now, and it’s a different Air Facts. Relaunched in 2011 as an online journal, Air Facts still champions, educates, informs and entertains pilots worldwide with real-world flying experiences. More…

Committed to Land: The Hidden Risks of Single-Engine Operations in Light Twins

In addition to teaching our students to respect the POH procedures and performance numbers, we should also teach them the operational realities of everyday flying, where the perfection represented in the POH is unattainable and blind faith in the published numbers can become a trap.

Towing Gliders in a Waco UPF-7

I not only loved flying the UPF-7, but also loved sitting in it next to the grass runway between tows, with a cornfield at my back, grasshoppers and crickets singing in the grass, and listening to the exhaust ticking as it cooled, like a slowly diminishing clock. Ahh, memories. I was relaxed and at peace.

airventure

Friday Photo: Enjoying AirVenture

The skies were blue, the clouds peaceful and white. The aircraft were awesome as always. One positive about the digital world is the ability to change “film” on demand. So, a switch to black and white and some push processing in the lab, and all of a sudden, this could be the skies over a war torn land somewhere far off.

Know Your Numbers

What I Know About...

So what’s the big deal about aircraft numbers, you ask? Well, just about everything. Let’s pull this thing apart and take a closer look at how those numbers impact you and your passengers.

I Can Hear You, But You Can’t Hear Me

We were climbing through IMC and unable to establish two-way communication. Shortly after, we broke out on top into VMC—but descending would have required going back into the cloud layer, and we still had no reliable way to transmit.

Flying the Pilatus PC-12: does it live up to the hype?

Today we tackle a unique and well-regarded airplane: the Pilatus PC-12. Does it live up to the hype as the “turbine Suburban?” Is a single engine turboprop safe? Can it really take off from short and soft runways? My short answer is yes, yes, and yes, but please read on for a much longer answer.

John’s Blog

Flying the Pilatus PC-12: does it live up to the hype?

Today we tackle a unique and well-regarded airplane: the Pilatus PC-12. Does it live up to the hype as the “turbine Suburban?” Is a single engine turboprop safe? Can it really take off from short and soft runways? My short answer is yes, yes, and yes, but please read on for a much longer answer.

Is your flight school training you for the wrong job?

To be blunt, some schools are training the next generation of pilots to be excellent systems managers in a multi-crew environment, but are failing the pilots who want to use an airplane as a tool for personal travel. A Bonanza isn't a miniature Boeing; it's a cross-country time machine that requires a completely different set of skills, most of which aren’t found in the ACS or an accelerated syllabus.

Use it or lose it: the instrument rating is not an insurance policy

One of the saddest things in aviation is a pilot with an instrument rating who’s afraid to use it. They look at a 1500-foot overcast and realize their $15,000 investment has become nothing more than a souvenir. Maybe they used to fly in the soup all the time and simply fell out of the habit; more likely, they can recite the holding pattern entries from the textbook but have never seen the inside of a cloud. Either way, it’s a waste of money and a missed opportunity.

View John’s Blog

I Can’t Believe I Did That

New Captain, Dark Runway

I Can't Believe I Did That

It was almost midnight and raining heavily. My first officer and I followed the checklist and thought we had it completed. We were in ground contact and could see some lights on the ground, but NO RUNWAY IN SIGHT as we approached minimums. We were about to initiate a missed approach!

I Need a Donut

I Can't Believe I Did That

I strive to keep my inner Homer Simpson quiet, but sometimes he takes over in the cockpit. From tailwinds at KVBT to snow-filled wheel pants in Evansville, here are a few of my “D’oh!” moments—and what they taught me about staying sharp as a pilot.

Collins Writing Prize Second Place: Livin’ the Dream

I Can't Believe I Did That, Young Pilots

This article received second place in the 2026 Richard Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots. Grace Eger, who also placed in the contest in 2023, shares a memorable winter lesson in humility—and a reminder of why flying is still the best job in the world.

Opinion

Committed to Land: The Hidden Risks of Single-Engine Operations in Light Twins

In addition to teaching our students to respect the POH procedures and performance numbers, we should also teach them the operational realities of everyday flying, where the perfection represented in the POH is unattainable and blind faith in the published numbers can become a trap.

TFRs Suck!

If you aren’t familiar with the Bedminster TFR, it’s a Presidential one, well actually, not one but a set of them, well, a set of NOTAMs really, and those NOTAMs consist of several rings of restricted airspace, well actually, there are two rings, well, maybe more, but anyway, there’s one you can fly in and one you can play Top Gun in.

Celebrating the Frontier of Flight

As the 20th century dawned, America’s pioneering aviators discovered another frontier on the sands of Kitty Hawk—one above our heads and more endless than any ocean or continent. And many of us would follow. The frontier of air and space called forth our best.

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I Can’t Believe I Did That

Learn from the mistakes of others

Technique

Improve your flying skills

Go Or No Go

Test your weather decision-making

Young Pilots

The next generation writes

Friday Photo

Unforgettable cockpit views

I Was There

Sharing pilot stories