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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…
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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.
![](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/27094617/daimond-enroute-495x400.png)
The “C” in PIC
OpinionWhen I first started my primary training, my CFI was mainly focused on developing my “P-Skills”–learning to actually fly the airplane. But once I got the physical act of flying down, my training slowly transitioned into developing my “C” ones. These skills included recognizing and dealing with emergencies, how to communicate on the radio effectively, and probably the most important one of all, how to see and avoid.
![approach fog](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/06165410/low-approach-in-fog-from-cockpit-e1691761314726-495x400.jpg)
Danger lurks in circling approaches
What I Know About...Let us not forget that the circling approach maneuver is designed as a last resort, non-precision approach. A circling approach is one that, by dwindling numbers and its inherent design, forces the pilot(s) into a seldom used and high-risk evolution–often migrating us to an unexpected and seldom visited zip code of the threat/error management neighborhood.
![Glider tow](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/06141746/Glider-tow-runway-495x400.jpg)
Glider Towing – How do I get out of This Mess
I was thereI continued climbing straight ahead to about 500 feet while closely monitoring the gauges before I waggled the wings in a sign to the glider that I was in trouble. As we were now high enough, (and still within the precincts of the airfield) both of us could get back. The instructor got off the tow promptly, turned right and headed back towards the glider landing check point. I radioed a Pan Pan call.
![152 landing](https://media.airfactsjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/06171203/Mainland_Air_Cessna_152_ZK-FCQ_Dunedin_NZ.jpg)
She’s Down – Helping a Cessna in Distress
I was thereSince we were coming in from the southeast, slightly off her right, I took over the communications again and told her to change to a heading that should have taken her to the airport. I was guessing at the wind correction angle to apply, but I was only a few degrees off her inbound course, so I had a fair idea of the course she should fly. Karen turned to the new heading and was settling down somewhat, getting over her earlier panic.
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.
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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.
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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.