![two boeings](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/15093307/two-boeings-495x400.jpg)
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…
![two boeings](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/15093307/two-boeings-495x400.jpg)
![aero commander](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/15140930/areo-commander-495x400.jpg)
From the archive: round trip to Europe in an Aero Commander
Air Facts ArchivesThe uniqueness of our trip lay in its actual purpose, which was solely to utilize a convenient and independent mode of travel in order to visit Europe. Bob held the firm conviction that much mountain and weather flying, daily encountered by private pilots in our own country, offered greater hazards and required greater navigation skill than this trip.
![diamond da40](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/08093402/da40-495x400.jpg)
It’s Time To Get High
OpinionAnd what altitude did I fly the entire coast of Connecticut? That’s right, 1,500 feet. It gets better. Because for whatever reason, New York Approach wouldn’t negotiate with Bridgeport’s Tower (KBDR) for the transition, I was asked to avoid KBDR’s Class Delta airspace altogether. And I did. At, you guessed it, 1,500 feet. Over the water. Go me.
![airplane in grass](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/06101838/172-in-grass-1-495x400.jpg)
Centerline, centerline, centerline
I Can't Believe I Did ThatThe 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.
![](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/29112829/warren-anderson-extra-495x400.jpg)
A dead stick landing and a chance encouter with Hal Shevers
I Can't Believe I Did ThatAt 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.
![md-11](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/23105055/md-11-495x400.png)
One of the last in the air on 9/11
I was thereOn our initial contact with Honolulu approach, we were told that we would be intercepted by Hawaiian Air National Guard F-15s and be inspected before being allowed to proceed to HNL. They relayed that only pilots in full uniform could be in the cockpit. We scanned the horizon trying to get a visual on the traffic. Soon two F-15s appeared in formation off our left wing. One inspected us up close and the other trailed behind us.
John’s Blog
![PC-12 crash track](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/19161538/PC-12-crash-track-495x400.jpg)
Ignore the YouTube crash detectives—it’s usually pilot error
John's blogWhen 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](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/09101641/dual-instruction-copy-495x400.jpg)
Why learning to fly can be good for your mental health
John's blogAmericans 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.
![Airline pilot hiring by month](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/05180107/Airline-pilot-hiring-2014-to-2024-495x400.jpg)
What a difference a decade makes: the GA boom in statistics
John's blogGeneral aviation is growing. That simple statement would have been unremarkable to a pilot in the 1960s or 1970s, as surprising as saying the sun rose in the east that day. But for anyone who learned to fly after about 1990, and especially between 2008 and 2016, it’s a shocking thing to admit. Yet that is exactly what is happening right now, as data from a wide variety of sources show.
I Can’t Believe I Did That
![Citabria on grass runway](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/06174505/Citabria-takeoff-on-grass.jpg)
The time when I almost landed short
I Can't Believe I Did ThatThe 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](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/06101838/172-in-grass-1-495x400.jpg)
Centerline, centerline, centerline
I Can't Believe I Did ThatThe 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.
![](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/29112829/warren-anderson-extra-495x400.jpg)
A dead stick landing and a chance encouter with Hal Shevers
I Can't Believe I Did ThatAt 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
![New Cessna 172](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/06180355/new-172-2.jpg)
So maybe there was a real purpose in flying that day
OpinionAfter I was current again and reasonably proficient, the 16-year-old son of some friends asked if he could go up with me. I said he could, but only if his parents were very clear as to my experience, the record of the flying club, the kind of plane we’d be flying, Vx, Vy, everything. They gave an enthusiastic thumbs up and we had a great flight.
![Windsock](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/06155020/wind_sock_at_airport_by_geekophelia-dchvg8b.jpg)
Managing the wind
OpinionThose 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.
![V-tail Bonanza](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/06180320/V35B-bonanza.jpg)
Burning Man for Builders
OpinionSociety 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.
More Articles
Recent Posts
Email newsletter
Sign up for our free email newsletter, packed with tips, tricks and news for pilots.
Write for us!
Did you know that most of the articles at Air Facts are written by readers like you? You do not have to be Richard Collins or Ernest Gann – simply a GA pilot with a story you’d share with friends sitting in the hangar.