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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…

Preflights and distractions

One cold day, I was taxiing out to the runway in our Cessna 172 when another pilot says over the Unicom, “Uhhhh, Skyhawk taxiing out, you still have your cowl plugs in.” Ugh, how embarrassing. I was with my wife and had my tail thoroughly between my legs as I hopped out to remove them.

The Six Pack instruments

50 years ago in Air Facts

The following article first appeared in the October, 1961 issue of Air Facts. The wisdom found in Bob’s advice is still sound 50 years later. And, yes, we really did do “canyon approaches” back in the good old days.- Ed.

Hal Shevers

Too bad you’ll never be a pilot

I heard that many, many times as a young man. You see, I was born with 20/400 vision in my right eye. Today we call that a lazy eye condition. It could have been corrected before the age of five if only they had known. In school when I took a vocational aptitude test, pilot came out on top. Surprisingly enough, minister and funeral director came out on the bottom. I wonder how many pilots would like to make their avocation the church or a funeral parlor? So, I was doomed to a life behind a desk, or so I thought.

N40RC

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Range: it’s not all about miles…

Most people talk about the range of airplanes in terms of nautical miles. There are formulas that are used to project the IFR range of turbine airplanes. Some consider wind probabilities and all include a trip to an alternate that is a specified…

N40RC

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Speaking our language

Look, I rarely fly during the wintertime. VFR, warm blooded, no way to get to Lincoln Airport except on the motorcycle, that’s me. Instead, I—nerd alert—build model airplanes and—double-nerd alert—read and reread The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright (Volumes One and Two). Don’t hate me—I led a wasted childhood.

N40RC

<img width="495" height="293" alt="N40RC" data-srcset="https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101.jpg 600w, https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101-300x178.jpg 300w, https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101-330x195.jpg 330w" data-src="https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101.jpg" data-sizes="(max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px" class="wp-image-445 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-445 attachment-portfolio size-portfolio wp-post-image lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" /><noscript><img width="495" height="293" src="https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101.jpg" class="wp-image-445 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-445 attachment-portfolio size-portfolio wp-post-image" alt="N40RC" srcset="https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101.jpg 600w, https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101-300x178.jpg 300w, https://airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/P2101-330x195.jpg 330w" sizes="(max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px" />

Opinion: Coping with the Winds of Change

Consider, for a moment, some of the drivers that enabled our nation to develop as a world power. From the time the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth to the present, the single most important driver was the human element, the spirit that has ignited every major achievement in our history. Most everyone would agree that America is unique in this regard.

John’s Blog

Trevor Jacob jump

YouTube, Top Gun, and aviation culture

Is YouTube good or bad for general aviation? That seems to be a popular hangar flying debate these days, especially since a number of high profile pilots have found themselves in hot water with the FAA over the last month. The answer may be more important for the future of GA than you think.

Pilatus PC-12

What’s wrong with Pilatus PC-12 pilots?

A key reason for the PC-12’s popularity has been its stellar safety record, one of the best in all of general aviation. So any effort to answer the question, “what’s wrong with Pilatus PC-12 pilots?” has to begin with: not much. But accidents do happen, including a recent one off the coast of North Carolina. That means it’s worth our time to examine the safety record of a specific airplane type, even if you don’t fly that model.

Aviation’s roaring ’20s? A case for GA growth

Is the current GA boom just temporary, one that will soon break hearts and bank accounts, or has something fundamentally changed? I think we should seriously consider the possibility that general aviation has some steady tailwinds. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not convinced we'll reach the dizzying heights of the late 1970s, but there are some long term trends that could make light airplanes more attractive.

View John’s Blog

I Can’t Believe I Did That

Thermometer at 100 degrees

Low, hot, and humid

I Can't Believe I Did That

The subsequent takeoff began normally enough—I didn’t necessarily notice if we became airborne a little farther down the runway than normal or not. But once airborne, I slowly became aware that things weren’t going as expected. After liftoff, the climb rate of the 172 was downright anemic to say the least. It was clawing the air trying to climb, but without much success.

Savannah

Who’s pilot in command? A faulty assumption leads to an accident

I Can't Believe I Did That

There was much joking and laughing about operating the Savannah, a small aircraft, from an 8,000-ft runway that had been built for nuclear bombers. The weather was perfect, we were in high spirits, but there was no discussion about our respective licences and experience or check procedures. We were just a couple of pilot mates going for a fly—what could go wrong?

Scud from Cessna

A severe, multi-day case of “get-there-itis”

I Can't Believe I Did That

I took off before noon, as planned, and headed south. Soon the sky grew dimmer, and clouds started turning from cumulus to a thick carpet around 3000 ft AGL. Rain patches started to appear and two hours into my 3.5 hour planned trip I had to dodge them. Then about one hour from my destination a solid wall of rain appeared in front of me.

Opinion

Home simulator

Simulators: focus on saving time, not logging time

In the context of flight training, the discussion around simulator time that can be logged versus not logged is an important one. There is a general argument that if the FARs do not allow the time to be logged, then why spend more time in a simulator? Let's examine why that reasoning is flawed.

CFI with student

Why you should think like a pilot

After many years working as a TV producer and network executive, I turned my hobby (flying small airplanes) into a second career as a flight instructor. While you might not be excited by the prospect of getting behind the controls of an aircraft, every day that I teach new pilots I realize the skills essential to safe flying apply just as well to making you better at whatever you do. From that, a few suggestions.

Logbook entries

The only flight time that counts

Local environments produce interesting flying hours, especially if other pilots are not likely to obtain the “correct” time a local pilot may enjoy. I was informed that I could never obtain true pilot-hood until I had logged the following.

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I Can’t Believe I Did That

Learn from the mistakes of others

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Improve your flying skills

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Friday Photo

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I Was There

Sharing pilot stories