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    • The Choice to Fly

    • Zingi and the Auster

    • The First Flight After Maintenance, and Texting While Wrenching

    • Friday Photo: Thunderbirds

    • Mea Culpa: Confessions of a Joyful Pilot

    • Why I Returned to Stick and Rudder

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    I Can’t Believe I Did That

    Learn from the mistakes of others

    I Was There

    Pilot stories from around the world

    Technique

    Improve your flying skills

    Chris Schaich

    Articles by Chris Schaich

    NEW ARTICLES

    OUR MOST RECENT POSTS

    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…

    Four Merlins to Momote

    History
    In this current era of over-regulation, it may seem, understandably to anyone reading this story now, that we were a bunch of over-enthusiastic young men with little sense of professional responsibility. But it was another time and things were different then. For this ancient airman, they were the good old days and I mourn their passing.
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    3 Comments
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    November 19, 2014
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/06172651/AF-Lincoln-over-Momote-feature.jpg 280 520 John Laming https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png John Laming2014-11-19 17:00:052017-09-06 12:36:10Four Merlins to Momote

    Why I bought a Pig!

    I was there
    In my last article I told you what it took to get my wife in the air. As much as that short flight over La Jolla (San Diego) was fun, the goal was always, and forever will be, to use the airplane for family flying. So after years of airport hopping, $100 burger runs (by myself I might add), and oh so many touch and goes, it was time to take the family on a real trip.
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    November 17, 2014
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/06172701/AF-cherokee-six-feature.jpg 280 520 Liad Biton https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Liad Biton2014-11-17 14:55:292014-11-17 14:55:29Why I bought a Pig!

    Don’t take anything for granted!

    I was there
    Since I began taking flying lessons, about 5 years ago, our dream was to fly to Fort Collins. I mean, after endlessly flying over the featureless flatlands of the Midwest, how cool to see the freakin’ Rocky Mountains filling your windshield!
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    7 Comments
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    November 13, 2014
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/06172715/AF-UGN-to-FNL-trip-feature.jpg 280 520 Frank Ladonne https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Frank Ladonne2014-11-13 15:48:282014-11-13 15:48:28Don’t take anything for granted!

    From the archives: Dick Collins on airline vs. GA flying

    Air Facts Archives
    In our latest trip through the Air Facts archives, we discovered this gem from the April 1965 issue. Here, a young Richard Collins considers the advantages and disadvantages of traveling on the airlines versus flying oneself by light airplane. Is it really worth it to fly instead of ride? Nearly 50 years later, many pilots are still asking the question--Collins answers it definitively.
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    November 12, 2014
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/06172706/AF-TWA-727-feature.jpg 280 520 Richard Collins https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Richard Collins2014-11-12 16:00:472021-12-08 15:27:16From the archives: Dick Collins on airline vs. GA flying

    Welcome to the war

    Veterans' Stories
    In March 1967, as I finished my first year as a draftee in the Army, I kissed my wife good-bye in Tulsa and flew to San Francisco to go to war. At Travis, we boarded a chartered DC-8 airliner for the flight to Vietnam.
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    8 Comments
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    November 7, 2014
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/06172716/AF-DC-8-Vietnam-feature.jpg 280 520 Dan Baxter https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Dan Baxter2014-11-07 13:54:122014-11-07 13:54:12Welcome to the war

    Those pilot reports – of the magazine variety

    Logbooks
    Over my 50 years in the print magazine business I would estimate that I wrote at least 300 pilot report features plus a lot of other airplane coverage in columns. I started to go back and count exactly how many there were but decided that wouldn’t be any fun. Instead, I’ll tell you about some that were different enough for me to vividly remember.
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    11 Comments
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    November 5, 2014
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/06172720/AF-pirep-feature.jpg 280 520 Richard Collins https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Richard Collins2014-11-05 11:32:312020-08-06 09:00:48Those pilot reports – of the magazine variety
    Page 361 of 440«‹359360361362363›»

    John’s Blog

    The aviation community is alive and well

    John's blog
    Before the expletive could even leave my mouth, one of the FBO employees offered to lend me the crew car. I assumed the crew car option would be impossible, or at least impossibly bad manners, since the round trip would be nearly two hours and the FBO was closing soon. But he wouldn’t hear it: “take all the time you need and just drop the keys off with the night security guard. We appreciate your business.”
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    26 Comments
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    June 2, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/27151312/The-aviation-community-is-alive-and-well.png 1000 1250 John Zimmerman https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png John Zimmerman2025-06-02 08:54:432025-05-27 16:38:00The aviation community is alive and well

    The Starlink era is here—will we regret it?

    John's blog
    This promises to be a major advancement in cockpit technology, with benefits for pilots and passengers alike. But before diving headfirst into the Starlink pool, it would be wise to pause for just a moment and contemplate what we might lose. Don’t worry, I’m no Luddite and I’m not here to scare anyone away from an exciting new gadget. I am, however, an observer with enough experience to have seen technological breakthroughs bring unintended consequences. I fear that may happen here.
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    27 Comments
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    April 9, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/17123837/Copy-of-The-Starlink-era-is-here%E2%80%94will-we-regret-it.png 1000 1300 John Zimmerman https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png John Zimmerman2025-04-09 08:55:152025-04-17 12:38:45The Starlink era is here—will we regret it?

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

    John's blog
    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.
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    55 Comments
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    March 14, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20101002/11-things-to-do-with-your-license.png 1000 1250 John Zimmerman https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png John Zimmerman2025-03-14 08:55:252025-03-23 14:20:58Pilot’s Bucket List: 11 Must-Do Adventures After Earning Your License
    View John’s Blog

    I Can’t Believe I Did That

    A Quarter Tank and a Prayer

    I Can't Believe I Did That
    I was watching the fuel gauges drop before my eyes. I elected to continue to ECG rather than turn back. I was on a direct course. The Norfolk controller wished me luck—not the most reassuring sign—and handed me off to ECG Tower, who had already been briefed.
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    June 20, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20175441/QUARTER-TANK-AND-A-PRAYER.png 1000 1250 Jeff Minck https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Jeff Minck2025-06-20 08:55:212025-05-27 15:15:11A Quarter Tank and a Prayer

    Trial by Ice

    I Can't Believe I Did That, I was there
    The most valuable lesson I learned from the “School of Hard Knocks” had nothing to do with weather or instrument flying. The “trial by ice” was a lesson in the awesome responsibility that comes from occupying the left seat of an airplane, regardless of its size. It also taught me to recognize those rare and unusual emergency situations when going by the book is not safe, and when deviating from standard operating procedures or the Federal Air Regulations is not only warranted, but imperative.
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    31 Comments
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    May 5, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/16113809/trial-by-ice.png 1000 1250 Joel Turpin https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Joel Turpin2025-05-05 08:10:022025-05-05 08:11:53Trial by Ice

    I Am UNSAFE Checklist—Lessons Learned on a Fateful Night

    I Can't Believe I Did That
    Very soon I was on the approach and thought I could still make 06C.  The ATIS called out the overcast at 800’ AGL, the minimum I needed (mistake #5—not mine, but it counted anyway.)  I held at 800’, assuming I’d see the runway lights below me and then I could continue to 06C.  As I crossed the runway threshold, it was solid IMC and I had to go missed.  I asked the Tower what the current ceiling was, and the response was that the ATIS was old and the ceiling was actually 400’ and you’ll have to go around. 
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    19 Comments
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    February 28, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/14102325/unsafe-checklist.png 1000 1250 Bob Hamilton https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Bob Hamilton2025-02-28 08:55:512025-02-14 10:24:30I Am UNSAFE Checklist—Lessons Learned on a Fateful Night
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    Opinion

    The Choice to Fly

    Opinion
    Now we were nose-down, spinning, and rapidly losing altitude. The earth swirled in the windshield, the tall pines below getting closer. I don’t remember how many turns we made, but somewhere between the second one and the top of those trees, he cut the power and stopped the rotation. We were still descending fast. Sweat poured down my face, driven by the sudden surge of fear, my novice brain gripped by self-preservation.
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    July 18, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/30140542/the-choice-to-fly.png 1000 1250 Parvez Dara https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Parvez Dara2025-07-18 08:55:012025-06-30 14:06:35The Choice to Fly

    The First Flight After Maintenance, and Texting While Wrenching

    Opinion
    Flying has dangers, always has, but they were just different dangers in the past. But some of the dangers of flying persist.  Like the danger of flying an aircraft the first time after maintenance has been done to it. A bad mechanic can kill you dead with an error—and they’ll go have lunch (with an ATC guy) while you take a dirt nap.
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    1 Comment
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    July 14, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/30134113/first-flight-after-maintenance.png 1000 1250 Matt Johnson https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Matt Johnson2025-07-14 08:55:272025-07-14 15:52:32The First Flight After Maintenance, and Texting While Wrenching

    Mea Culpa: Confessions of a Joyful Pilot

    Opinion
    Over the last several months, I have committed several aviation sins. I once went on a flight without checking the weather. I recently departed without calculating my takeoff distance or obstacle clearance. On more than one occasion, I landed from a non–“stable approach,” being both below and above target approach speeds. I’ve flown non-standard traffic patterns. I’ve flown outside the glide range to the nearest airport. I’ve even flown without talking to ATC or filing a flight plan.
    Read more
    25 Comments
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    July 9, 2025
    https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/23135150/mea-culpa.png 1000 1250 Serrhel Adams https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/03140241/AF_Logo_24.png Serrhel Adams2025-07-09 08:55:132025-06-23 13:52:53Mea Culpa: Confessions of a Joyful Pilot
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