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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…

Sharing Safety Guidance on Stabilized Approaches

Runway excursions remain one of aviation’s most stubborn accident categories, despite years of emphasis on stabilized approaches, defined gates, and widespread encouragement of go-arounds. Most pilots understand the criteria. Far fewer consistently act on them. That gap—between knowing what to do and actually doing it—is the focus of this guidance document from WYVERN.

Eric the Lifesaver

Returning from a routine sales trip, Jim Davis walks into a hangar transformed for a major aviation celebration. What follows involves a notorious uninvited guest, a quiet negotiation, and a man named Eric whose calm authority changes the course of the evening—and possibly more.

beach

Friday Photo: Ocean City Beach

A flight instructor CFI/CFII requested that I fly this plane with him as takes a deeper dive into the glass cockpit. As he teaches on this plane, he also gets some free hours so he invited me to fly along - what a wonderful Christmas gift this was for me.

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.

Do You Have an Abort Point?

If your answer is yes—do you religiously follow it? Until recently, I would have said yes without hesitation. Now, I’m not so sure. A Routine IPC Trip Every six months, I schedule an IPC with an instructor I’ve flown with for nearly…

My Most Dangerous Flight

“What’s the most dangerous flight you’ve made?” Non-pilots often expect tales of death-defying aerobatics or wild weather—but for me, danger can be surprisingly subtle. In this story, I share a flight in my Cub over the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex at just 1,000 feet AGL, constantly scanning for safe landing spots and dodging traffic alerts. It wasn’t reckless—it was sightseeing low and slow, where the beauty of the country comes with small, inherent risks. A tale of vigilance, preparation, and the quiet thrills of general aviation.

John’s Blog

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.

Go-arounds don’t have to be hard

I was grumpy with my friend because I hate the obsession with instant analysis, and he made me participate in this ugly trend. I was grumpy because this accident hit a little close to home, killing a father who was flying his wife and daughter in a Cirrus SR22 (something I do often). But I was mostly grumpy because go-around accidents happen far too often—and they are eminently preventable. This is one problem we should be able to solve.

Guard frequency in the age of social media

Yes, this is an “old man yells at cloud” article. Yes, I can already hear the jokes about the “guard police.” I don’t care. It needs to be said: Guard frequency (121.5) has become a national embarrassment, a sign that our self-absorbed social media culture has spread to the once-boring world of aviation. We need to do better.

View John’s Blog

I Can’t Believe I Did That

Out of Options—Pinned in the Pass

I Can't Believe I Did That

Weather closing in. Terrain rising ahead. No room to turn back. In a narrow New Zealand valley, one pilot learns just how unforgiving a single wrong decision can be — and what it taught him about judgment and humility.

Spatial Disorientation: I Thought It Couldn’t Happen to Me

I Can't Believe I Did That

I began climbing to get between layers, intending to stabilize and then request IFR. But as I entered the clouds, what I thought could never happen did. I was in an unusual attitude: 45 degrees banked and nose down. For a moment, I considered pulling the CAPS parachute. I had often wondered if I’d have the presence of mind to use it in a real emergency. After this, I know the answer is yes. But I also realized I could recover.

I Made Every Flight Training Mistake Humanly Possible

I Can't Believe I Did That

Flight training is rarely a straight line, but for Nick Smith it turned into a winding, four–year journey full of delays, false starts, and unexpected costs. In this brutally honest account, he shares the mistakes he made—so future pilots don’t have to repeat them. His story is both a cautionary tale and a reminder that perseverance can still lead to the certificate.

Opinion

Sharing Safety Guidance on Stabilized Approaches

Runway excursions remain one of aviation’s most stubborn accident categories, despite years of emphasis on stabilized approaches, defined gates, and widespread encouragement of go-arounds. Most pilots understand the criteria. Far fewer consistently act on them. That gap—between knowing what to do and actually doing it—is the focus of this guidance document from WYVERN.

My Most Dangerous Flight

“What’s the most dangerous flight you’ve made?” Non-pilots often expect tales of death-defying aerobatics or wild weather—but for me, danger can be surprisingly subtle. In this story, I share a flight in my Cub over the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex at just 1,000 feet AGL, constantly scanning for safe landing spots and dodging traffic alerts. It wasn’t reckless—it was sightseeing low and slow, where the beauty of the country comes with small, inherent risks. A tale of vigilance, preparation, and the quiet thrills of general aviation.

$100 Hamburger Reflections

Boredom creates the need for the $100 hamburger. Power pilots often have to invent ways to stay mentally engaged: mastering autopilot, interpreting en-route weather, practicing precision maneuvers, honing navigation skills, flying patterns and go-arounds, upset training, aerobatics, IFR practice, and so on. These exercises are about keeping the mind occupied and the skills sharp—they are less about “having fun.”

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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

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Young Pilots

The next generation writes

Friday Photo

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I Was There

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