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  • Unfamiliarity and distractions nearly result in a gear up

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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

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History

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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…

Classic Cessna 180

Designing the Cessna 180

History
Former Cessna engineer and test pilot Harry Clements shares his personal history of designing the Cessna 180. As you might expect, not everything went smoothly during this bush plane's development.
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23 Comments
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August 8, 2012
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/06180105/Cessna-180.jpg 506 770 Harry Clements https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Harry Clements2012-08-08 10:12:132016-02-27 10:22:13Designing the Cessna 180
Cessna Skycatcher

The Great Debate: is the LSA rule a failure?

Debate
The Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) rule is coming up on its 8th birthday, and that seems as good a time as any to reflect on the successes and failures of LSAs and the Sport Pilot license. Has it worked? Share your opinion in our latest debate.
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114 Comments
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August 6, 2012
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/06180053/162.jpg 631 982 John Zimmerman https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg John Zimmerman2012-08-06 17:09:122016-02-27 10:22:06The Great Debate: is the LSA rule a failure?
Little John

Spelling relief

I was there
People complain about my lack of …endurance. Turns out, I’m not the only pilot with a bladder of clay. For as long as airplanes have been able to sustain vast distances, they’ve been flown by people who can’t.
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12 Comments
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August 3, 2012
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/06180118/littlejohn.jpg 400 400 Phil Scott https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Phil Scott2012-08-03 09:58:102017-02-27 16:04:59Spelling relief
Speed record track

Bittersweet victory: breaking Dad’s speed record

Speed Records
When Air Facts resurrected the speed records that it started in 1968, it brought back a flood of memories of my Dad’s participation in the program. So when a planned family trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin, was on the calendar, I figured this was a good time to attempt to beat Dad’s record—well at least one of them.
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4 Comments
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August 1, 2012
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/06180115/497A-track.jpg 694 1160 Pete Bedell https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Pete Bedell2012-08-01 11:23:122016-02-27 10:21:50Bittersweet victory: breaking Dad’s speed record
Avgas

Washington report: the future of 100LL

Washington report
The future of avgas has been a hot topic for decades, with predictions of "the end of 100LL" coming every few years. But lately there has been a renewed urgency about the subject, especially as environmental groups and the EPA have turned up the heat.
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9 Comments
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July 27, 2012
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/06180120/avgas.jpg 467 700 John Zimmerman https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg John Zimmerman2012-07-27 04:12:022016-02-27 10:21:33Washington report: the future of 100LL
Grand Canyon

Westward Ho

I was there
Lawrence Zingesser shares another memorable trip. The plan was to fly to the Napa Valley and in doing so to experience the scenery of the Rocky Mountains up close, to explore the Grand Canyon from a low altitude, and to overfly coastal California en-route. Read how the trip went, including pictures.
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4 Comments
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July 24, 2012
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/06180142/Zingesser-grand-canyon-1.jpg 600 800 Lawrence Zingesser https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Lawrence Zingesser2012-07-24 07:25:212016-02-27 10:21:26Westward Ho
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John’s Blog

Low approach

Pilots need to be generalists, not specialists

John's blog
American education has been obsessed with STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) for at least a decade, and the aviation industry has eagerly jumped on the bandwagon. The FAA is leading the charge to fit our square peg into this round hole, declaring aviation to be the ultimate STEM career path. I’m in favor of anything that attracts a new generation of pilots, but this framing is a radical oversimplification—and it sets up some pilots for failure. 
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25 Comments
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November 20, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/06143202/Low-approach-Malibu.jpg 789 1265 John Zimmerman https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg John Zimmerman2023-11-20 09:00:352023-11-20 10:05:38Pilots need to be generalists, not specialists
HRRR

TAFs are so last century—here are four new tools to try

John's blog
If your preflight weather briefing habits don’t change every few years, you probably aren’t curious enough. Occasionally there are major shifts, like the one from Flight Service phone calls to iPad app self-briefings, but more often we slowly integrate new weather resources and let others fade away. That’s exactly what I’ve done with the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF), the gold standard of aviation forecasts. I still read them, but it plays a much less central role in my decision-making process than it did five years ago.
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8 Comments
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September 18, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/11112637/HRRR-map-small.jpg 825 1200 John Zimmerman https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg John Zimmerman2023-09-18 08:55:392023-09-18 08:58:49TAFs are so last century—here are four new tools to try
VL-3 airplane

Five changes the new MOSAIC rule could bring to aviation

John's blog
The word mosaic can be a noun, meaning a beautiful arrangement of glass, or an adjective, as in the tablets that Charlton Heston brought down from the mountain. Whether you view the FAA’s recently released Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) proposal as a work of art or a restrictive set of commandments from on high, this 300-page document will definitely change general aviation.
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13 Comments
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August 16, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/08135227/VL-3.jpg 789 1200 John Zimmerman https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg John Zimmerman2023-08-16 08:55:422023-08-16 09:25:00Five changes the new MOSAIC rule could bring to aviation
View John’s Blog

I Can’t Believe I Did That

Two in a row – a chain of mistakes and lessons

I Can't Believe I Did That
With less than 30 minutes to go before arriving, the battery couldn't hold a charge anymore. A warning message popped up on the PFD, and it only took five minutes for the electrical system to shut down. Thankfully, the PFD has a backup battery, so I knew I had around 30 minutes before it would go dark. I also had a Sporty's backup radio in my flight bag.
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5 Comments
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November 29, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/17111341/light-sport-flight-deck.png 798 1222 Kyle Braga https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Kyle Braga2023-11-29 08:55:562023-11-29 14:32:18Two in a row – a chain of mistakes and lessons
airplanes converging

My self-taught Immelmann for collision avoidance

I Can't Believe I Did That
The speck eventually sprouted a fuselage, twin-engine nacelles and a T-tail.  By the time the wing panels outboard of the engines became big enough to see, along with the turbine exhaust pipe exiting the near side nacelle, I was measuring four G’s on my panel accelerometer and depressing my control stick microphone switch.
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8 Comments
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November 27, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/06173416/Collision_wide-2.jpg 480 720 Robert Patlovany https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Robert Patlovany2023-11-27 08:55:012023-11-27 08:58:06My self-taught Immelmann for collision avoidance
Mooney M20E

Unfamiliarity and distractions nearly result in a gear up

I Can't Believe I Did That
About that time, another beeping noise could be heard over the buzzing in my headset.  “What’s that?” I asked.  “I’m not sure,” was the reply.  Now we were about a mile and a half from the runway.  Thankfully Philip did his GUMP check.  Gas, undercarriage.  Then we both noticed where that other beeping noise was coming from.
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2 Comments
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November 24, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/06173406/1965-Mooney-201E-Super21.jpg 693 1024 Jay Wischkaemper https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Jay Wischkaemper2023-11-24 08:50:412023-11-24 08:50:27Unfamiliarity and distractions nearly result in a gear up
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Opinion

You’ll always be a student and some advice for aspiring professional pilots

Opinion
As I manuevered toward the field, I realized we were too high.  As I  glanced at the moving map - a luxury I did not have during my Private training - the G1000 revealed a grass strip right underneath us. In no time, I positioned myself for a landing and completed the simulated emergency successfully. Now it was time for pattern work.
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1 Comment
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December 4, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20123012/20230217_115139-scaled.jpg 1251 2560 Enderson Rafael https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Enderson Rafael2023-12-04 08:55:532023-12-04 08:56:52You’ll always be a student and some advice for aspiring professional pilots
CFI with student

How That Proverbial Hamburger Could Save You $100, and a Lot More

Opinion
Retention makes the difference between success and failure in the classroom. Retention is driven mainly by emotional and psychological engagement. Your brain must be perfectly and correctly stimulated for you to learn something. Information delivered at a trickling garden hose pace will have you falling asleep at your desk.
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2 Comments
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November 15, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/06140235/Student-and-instructor-in-Cessna.jpg 599 1200 Charles Turner https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Charles Turner2023-11-15 08:55:122023-11-16 13:03:22How That Proverbial Hamburger Could Save You $100, and a Lot More
descent into clouds

As flight instructors we must continue to innovate

Opinion
I tried the “Leans” on a pilot whom I was teaching and suggested that if he saw me lean left or right, he was to take the cue that he had to turn. And if he felt pressure on the rudder pedals, it was me getting his attention for him not using the rudder. And if I was leaning forward towards the yoke, well, that gets obvious in a hurry.
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3 Comments
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November 13, 2023
https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/06173107/Descent-into-clouds.jpg 490 900 Parvez Dara https://airfactsjournal-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/06142440/Air-Facts-Logo340.jpg Parvez Dara2023-11-13 08:55:272023-11-19 14:51:16As flight instructors we must continue to innovate
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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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Recent Posts

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  • You’ll always be a student and some advice for aspiring professional pilots
  • Friday photo: Breaking out from a low IFR departure
  • Two in a row – a chain of mistakes and lessons
  • My self-taught Immelmann for collision avoidance

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