Accident? No, it’s a screw-up!

Most “accident” reports should be labeled "lack of judgment" investigations. Ian Seager says that too often we fail to learn from our own and other pilots’ errors.

Top 10 articles of 2013

In 2013, Air Facts debated the big issues in aviation, offered tips for safer flying and shared some good pilot stories. If you missed any of the 160 articles we published this year, here's our list of the 10 most popular.

Devil Canyon Christmas

After landing at Anchorage, I tied my faithful little ship down and silently thanked the guys at the Cessna plant for their stable and dependable Stationair. And, yes—it had been a lousy way to spend Christmas Eve...

In the air, trust is all we have

False bravado in the left seat can get you killed. The trust that you carry has to be inviolate: a certainty that you know what to do, how to do it and when. For me, that trust has been an off-and-on thing.
Ice on wing

Ice: gotcha… in a heartbeat

Dick Collins spent decades flying through ice in piston airplanes, and says he had "only a few truly memorable ice encounters." In this fascinating and educational article, he shares the lessons he learned--and some advice you won't read in any textbook.

Disappearance in an Alaskan valley

My initial interest in the “crash” was professional. Did I perform professionally? Could I have done anything to prevent it? What was I responsible for? I was one of the last people who did not die with him to speak to the pilot.

Debate: do you have to be an enthusiast to be a good pilot?

A pilot complained: "It used to be, pilots were real aviation enthusiasts. But this new breed of pilots, especially the guys who learn to fly in a Cirrus, they don't care about the joy of flying. They just use their airplanes to travel." The obvious question is: so what?

One pilot’s Christmas wish list

A non-pilot friend recently asked me, "what do pilots want for Christmas this year?" Since he knows I work at Sporty's, I think he was really looking for the hot aviation gadgets of 2013. But as I thought about what would make pilots happy in the year ahead, some much bigger wishes came to mind.

How I got involved in aviation – and why

So the question is, "Is GA dead or dying?" I don't think so. For someone from the outside looking in, GA is changing and evolving. There is demand out there; the question is how to meet that demand and get the word out.

First flight – memorable for the wrong reason

I tried to take in as much as I could about every detail until at about 20 feet above the runway. I watched him reach back and forth between the throttle and the microphone hanging below it without actually touching either. Then he looked at me and I heard him say, “Hold on boys.”

The Hungry Pilot: Rough River Dam State Resort Park

In our latest article searching for the perfect $100 hamburger, we travel to Kentucky. Rough River offers a beautiful lake, a nice lodge with a restaurant and even an airport within walking distance. What's not to like?

Love that eggbeater – taming the helicopter

Helicopter pilots aren’t born with paranoid tendencies; it can take upwards of two thousand hours of flying to realize that you’re smack dab in the center of a million parts rotating rapidly around an oil leak waiting for metal fatigue to set in.

The art of flying on silent wings

In our latest trip through the Air Facts archives we share a beautiful meditation on soaring, written by legendary airline pilot Bob Buck. Bob was a pilot's pilot, and his thoughtful, evocative description of what it's like to fly without an engine will make you wish you were soaring with him. Think gliders are for wimps? Think again.

To grandmother’s house we go or no go?

Ah, the holidays. A fun time for relaxing with family, right? Maybe, but first you have to get to grandmother's house for the big turkey dinner. And by looking out the window, it's clear that the weather stinks. Are you flying your Baron or staying home?

Veteran’s Story: many ways to die in WWII

A World War II Fighter Group climbs out through 20,000 feet of thick English overcast without autopilot or radar assistance--a harrowing experience at best. The odds against your missing dinner that evening went up considerably if you happened to be the wingman on a leader whose instrument skills were…questionable.

Mission possible: flying starfish

Why do I fly? What is it about being in the air that compels me to spend spare time, and even more scarce resources, to pursue aviation? Actually, it’s pretty simple: it’s about sharing my insatiable passion with others.

New FAA medical policy – fixing a problem that doesn’t exist

In describing a new policy on obstructive sleep apnea that will soon take effect, the FAA basically put pilots on notice that if you're too fat you might lose your medical. There's no other way to read this outrageous proposal.

Are slow airplanes practical transportation?

In a posting about the future and the relationship between present and past costs, I referred to transportation airplanes as those cruising at 140 knots or more. At least one reader questioned this and noted the value of slower airplanes for transportation, at least over shorter distances. Was he right?

Veteran’s Story: Vietnam photo ops

In the fall of 1962, I was a year out of flight training and attached to Heavy Photographic Squadron Sixty-One (VAP-61) home based at NAS Agana, Guam. It turned out that the only capability in the western Pacific for high altitude mapping belonged to VAP-61 and its Douglas RA-3B Skywarrior.

Learning panes – who you are in the cockpit is who you really are

Sometimes you learn things that you didn't expect while looking through airplane windows. I noticed this when I first started to fly and it has become the most beneficial part of the experience. It doesn’t happen on every flight. But it happened again recently.