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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…

SGS 1-26

Soaring and the Aviation Safety Reporting System

What I Know About...

The NASA ASRS system was created about 34 years ago, with the main purpose of identifying hazards to the overall approach to safety. In doing so, there had to be some caveats which insured its success. Perhaps the greatest one being that whatever information was disseminated through this process could not (BY LAW) be used in any type of enforcement against the reporting source.

Your passengers may not always enjoy flying

Turns out, it wasn't until turning base leg that we hit smoother air. With a 20+ knot headwind straight down the runway, my touchdown was slow and thankfully smooth. Had we made a fuel or bathroom stop, the guys may have ask directions to the nearest Greyhound station.

Windsock

Wind is More than a Number

Those little hills made for fiendish turbulence down low. The lower I got, the worse it became. I’m stubborn and I kept thinking it’s just 20 knots, and I’m a CFI (beating chest). Until I was porpoising down the runway like a first-time student. I went around the pattern a few times but finally got a clue and decided to go elsewhere.

cuban eight

Friday photo: half cuban eight

Half Cuban Eight with a 1 1/2 roll over Springdale, Arkansas.

V-tail Bonanza

Burning Man for Builders

Society will always tell us there’s no such thing as safe enough. We will add more and more sensors, cameras and lidar to things that drive themselves, while news headlines rage of man failing machine, machine failing man. We put in airbags and then a switch to deactivate them.

Challenges in Vietnam

History, Uncategorized

Firebug told the flight mechanic to use a nozzle of the second fire extinguisher to open the fire door, and if he still saw flames, to discharge the whole fire extinguisher into the compartment. He then told the load master to get the fire extinguisher from the cockpit.

John’s Blog

Cessna 172

What matters for VFR proficiency: better landings

Earlier this year I argued that if IFR pilots wanted to prevent accidents, they should focus on the most boring of skills: basic attitude instrument flying. Now it’s time to look at VFR pilots, and to spare you the suspense, the answer is similarly prosaic: loss of control on landing damages more airplanes than any other accident scenario. What can be done?

PC-12 crash track

Ignore the YouTube crash detectives—it’s usually pilot error

When a high performance airplane crashes in IMC, the self-proclaimed experts on social media quickly spin elaborate theories about autopilot failure, in-flight icing, structural failure, carbon monoxide poisoning, or some other incredibly rare cause. It makes for good entertainment (“hit that subscribe button!”) but the reality is usually much less interesting and much more depressing.

Flight instruction

Why learning to fly can be good for your mental health

Americans seem to be especially gloomy right now, according to a popular book and a report from the US Surgeon General. There are no miracle cures, but becoming a pilot can provide many of the positive experiences these experts recommend. No, I’m not suggesting the federal government mandate flight training to make American teenagers happy, but consider the following.

View John’s Blog

I Can’t Believe I Did That

Citabria on grass runway

The time when I almost landed short

I Can't Believe I Did That

The plane was perhaps 50 feet above the ground, but at least there was a smooth gravel under-run and the wheel pants were off. I had just enough energy to flare with a soft touchdown. I prepared myself for landing short. What an embarrassing end to the second leg of my Private pilot solo long cross-country.

airplane in grass

Centerline, centerline, centerline

I Can't Believe I Did That

The gusting wind from the east returns, pushing the aircraft toward the right side of the runway. In a matter of a few seconds, the grass infield fills my windshield. I didn’t get the thumb into the wind and I didn’t immediately get on the left rudder pedal to steer us back to the centerline. Years of training ignored in an instant which means we are now headed into the infield.

A dead stick landing and a chance encouter with Hal Shevers

I Can't Believe I Did That

At about 1,500 feet hawking the wind sock to determine my landing runway. The UNICOM frequency was quiet and I saw no other planes in the pattern. I turned away to re-enter on a 45 degree downwind. As I banked back to the field came a startling assault of silence. The engine quit—politely and with no shudder—it simply stopped running. I was a glider.

Opinion

What NTSB Reports Say About Impossible Turns and Angle of Attack (Part II)

For the industry as a whole, would safety resources be better expended on visual angle of attack indicators or on addressing other issues, such as teaching fundamentals of airmanship, basic piloting skills, or forced landing practice?

What NTSB Reports Say About Impossible Turns and Angle of Attack (Part I)

There is an impressive surge of AOA rhetoric—“lifesaving,” “correct,” “optimum”—but such language can be misleading. “Correct” and “optimum” may fit the context of the speaker but not necessarily apply to the situations of the listener, who may be considering other flight operations, or having to deal with real world scenarios. While the decision on where to expend safety resources will vary from pilot to pilot, the NTSB reports of this study do not support visual AOA indicators for impossible turns as a silver bullet to address overall safety issues.

cruise flight

Cruise Checklist, Complete?

Monitoring your engine gauges is sort of a systems-level skill which is part of every primary curriculum. But most of the focus is on takeoff; hopefully, you’ve been taught to stare at the gauges when you line up on the runway in case you must abort because one of them doesn’t look right. Yet just because your engine is acting normally on takeoff doesn’t guarantee it will in flight, right?

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I Can’t Believe I Did That

Learn from the mistakes of others

Technique

Improve your flying skills

Go Or No Go

Test your weather decision-making

Young Pilots

The next generation writes

Friday Photo

Unforgettable cockpit views

I Was There

Sharing pilot stories