Flying and Maintaining Prewar Aeroncas: A Guide for Antique Aircraft Owners

The Stick Chief refers to the aircraft controls that employ a stick as opposed to a yoke. And why would anyone do that, you ask?  In the late 1930s, then President Rosevelt, put the country on a war footing and declared the US would need 25,000 pilots. He was informed by the Navy and Army Air Core that they had neither the aircraft, personnel nor facilities to undertake the effort. To that end, civilian flight schools were pressed into service with several military officers overseeing civilian flight instructors. This was the beginning of the cadet pilot program.  

Buffalo Hunting With Airplanes

The most likely threat I would face was 23MM and 37MM Triple-A, which would be fired in streams of 25-50 rounds at a time. If the gunners were harassing you, they might fire only 25 rounds. If they were intent on you not destroying something of value (like themselves!), you could expect hundreds of rounds to be fired at you.

2025 Richard Collins Writing Prize Runner-Up: Tailstrikes and Tiedowns

,
As I banked into my final approach, my heart sank. I had fully cut power and had flaps at twenty, but I was still far too high. Because I had let my airspeed get so low, I hadn’t lost enough altitude on downwind. I knew I should go-around, but panic gripped me. I did the worst thing possible and tried to lose altitude by steepening my approach.

2025 Richard Collins Writing Prize Winner: Cruising Through the Soaring Blues

My landings were respectable, and my decision-making occasionally less respectable. Even after flying at cross-country camps, learning soaring theory, having the best possible mentor and breaking the proverbial apron strings at home, flying in my first competition that week was the hardest thing I’ve done yet as a pilot, but also the most satisfying.
powered parachute

Friday Photo: Fusion Over Mystic Bluffs

Every year pilots are treated to a special fly-in opportunity near Ramah, New Mexico (population 391). Mystic Bluffs Airport (NM56) is a private dirt runway. The Timberlake Ranch Homeowners Association hosts the fly-in and provides breakfast for lucky pilots. The valley, at almost 7,000' MSL, is surrounded by mountains, mesas, canyons and the bluffs. Mystic Bluffs refers to the cliffs west of the valley that look like pink and white layer cake.

Airshows and Fighter Jet Demos

Airshows can be small, at local airfields, or grand, like Chicago’s Waterfront extravaganza, Paris, or Farnborough, the aircraft can vary from small private aircraft, the sporty Putts and Yaks, to vintage ones, from WWI and WWII warbirds up to the teams, the Blues, the Birds, and Red Arrows.  They all capture young and old for different reasons.  The kids dream the old guys are also dreaming of the good days of yore.  I’ve done both.

A Life in Aviation: Building a Legacy Through Books and Artifacts

Rare are the folks associated with the aviation community who don’t collect, at one level or another, aviation related publications, photographs, and/or memorabilia. I would go so far as to call it a genetic aviation aberration; a built-in, irrepressible desire to own or simply possess “things” that connect us to the people, art, technology, business, and/or history of flight.

Pilot’s Bucket List: 11 Must-Do Adventures After Earning Your License

Everyone's dream list will vary, but let me suggest 11 things that every pilot should do with their license. Call it a bucket list if you want, but I consider it a flight plan for a fulfilling life in the cockpit.

Managing Your Speed Near the Airport

,
The NTSB analysis cites several factors, including the high speed of the Piper as it descended from the north over the airport’s parallel runways and flew a sweeping approach to runway 30L. The speedy low-wing airplane overshot the base-to-final turn and collided with the Cessna, which was doing pattern work on the shorter parallel runway 30R. The big lesson that I take from this event, and a similar midair at Watsonville, California (KWVI), also in 2022 (NTSB WPR22FA309), is managing speed in the vicinity of airports.

In Defense of the Paper Nav Log

The typical mid-lifers are accomplished overachievers. The way they see it, they could easily learn the Rubik's cube of a paper nav log if they were made to do it. But why require them to spend hours mastering a process that in the real world of EFBs, they'll never have to use again? For a mid-life pilot, this seems like a criminal waste of time.
JACKSON HOLE AIRPORT

Friday Photo: The Tetons From Jackson Hole Airport (KJAC)

There were a lot of wildfires around, so I’d been flying in smoke for several days.  But when I flew into the Snake River valley at Jackson Hole, it was clear and beautiful.  After landing, this was the view from the GA ramp!

Teaching International Student Pilots

After busting a major milestone in their training (the initial solo or any of the three checkrides they had to pass in the T-38 syllabus), students would get one or two extra flights with an experienced IP.  They would then fly an “Initial Progress” check with a squadron supervisor.  If they passed that check, they continued with the program.  Failing the Initial Progress check meant they got additional flights with another experienced IP and then flew a “Final Progress” check.  If they failed that flight, they would be eliminated from the program.

Why Crash Videos and Social Media Don’t Mix

I get that we all speculate in private on crashes since we have a natural tendency to try to understand tragedy after it unfolds. But when we speak publicly on social media or even to our friends and family at home, we become ambassadors for aviation. And as ambassadors, I firmly believe we need to steer these conversations toward supporting our fellow pilots who were involved in the incident as well as understanding how we can prevent it from happening again. And any online content that goes against these tenets should be strictly avoided or even better, unsubscribed.