Love that eggbeater – taming the helicopter

Helicopter pilots aren’t born with paranoid tendencies; it can take upwards of two thousand hours of flying to realize that you’re smack dab in the center of a million parts rotating rapidly around an oil leak waiting for metal fatigue to set in.

The art of flying on silent wings

In our latest trip through the Air Facts archives we share a beautiful meditation on soaring, written by legendary airline pilot Bob Buck. Bob was a pilot's pilot, and his thoughtful, evocative description of what it's like to fly without an engine will make you wish you were soaring with him. Think gliders are for wimps? Think again.

To grandmother’s house we go or no go?

Ah, the holidays. A fun time for relaxing with family, right? Maybe, but first you have to get to grandmother's house for the big turkey dinner. And by looking out the window, it's clear that the weather stinks. Are you flying your Baron or staying home?

Veteran’s Story: many ways to die in WWII

A World War II Fighter Group climbs out through 20,000 feet of thick English overcast without autopilot or radar assistance--a harrowing experience at best. The odds against your missing dinner that evening went up considerably if you happened to be the wingman on a leader whose instrument skills were…questionable.

Mission possible: flying starfish

Why do I fly? What is it about being in the air that compels me to spend spare time, and even more scarce resources, to pursue aviation? Actually, it’s pretty simple: it’s about sharing my insatiable passion with others.

New FAA medical policy – fixing a problem that doesn’t exist

In describing a new policy on obstructive sleep apnea that will soon take effect, the FAA basically put pilots on notice that if you're too fat you might lose your medical. There's no other way to read this outrageous proposal.

Are slow airplanes practical transportation?

In a posting about the future and the relationship between present and past costs, I referred to transportation airplanes as those cruising at 140 knots or more. At least one reader questioned this and noted the value of slower airplanes for transportation, at least over shorter distances. Was he right?

Veteran’s Story: Vietnam photo ops

In the fall of 1962, I was a year out of flight training and attached to Heavy Photographic Squadron Sixty-One (VAP-61) home based at NAS Agana, Guam. It turned out that the only capability in the western Pacific for high altitude mapping belonged to VAP-61 and its Douglas RA-3B Skywarrior.

Learning panes – who you are in the cockpit is who you really are

Sometimes you learn things that you didn't expect while looking through airplane windows. I noticed this when I first started to fly and it has become the most beneficial part of the experience. It doesn’t happen on every flight. But it happened again recently.

Proposal for a new IFR certification

From time to time, the FAA changes the qualifications for a license or rating and even adds a new designation of pilot. Steve Phoenix has made a study of the pilot population and gives here his recommendation for a new category of instrument pilots.

You don’t remember, as I do

This Veterans Day we are honoring those who served by sharing the stories of war in the air, as told by the pilots who were there. Over the next few weeks, we'll publish stories by pilots from World War II, Vietnam and other wars. Some are short, some are long, but all offer a glimpse into the life of a pilot at war.

Weather Flying, fifth edition – the legendary book flies on

When Bob Buck’s book Weather Flying was released in 1970, it became an instant classic. Wolfgang Langewiesche said of it, “Other books explain how weather is made; this book explains how weather is flown.” Truer words were never spoken.

This time, it’s cucumbers from the Bahamas

In his last Air Facts article, veteran freight pilot Jeff Tait shared his experience flying eggs to Venezuela. In this story, it’s cucumbers from the Bahamas to Florida. Ever think about how those cucumbers end up in your grocery store? Jeff has.

Always trust the GPS?

I punched the identifier for Tuli Block into my GPS and it came up, instructing me to fly a heading of 273 degrees for 300 miles, which would put us well into the Kalahari Desert searching for a non-existent dirt strip in the bush. Not a good outcome. How could that happen?

Have pilots lost their sense of adventure?

Almost everyone today, pilots included, is less spontaneous and less accepting of risk. That's probably a good thing overall (we're living longer), but it's less than ideal for getting the most out of a pilot's license.

11 questions for Alaska bush pilot Mort Mason

Here’s another in our series of Air Facts questions for aviation community members. Mort is a longtime Alaska bush pilot, now retired and living in Florida. Mort is the real deal when it comes to bush pilots and we knew he would have some fascinating insights.
Gatineau Airport

A trip (up) north

My wife and I had scheduled a trip to Ottawa in our Mooney 231 to begin on Saturday with a return on Sunday. But plans change, and preparation isn’t always enough to ensure a good result.

11 keys to safer instrument flights

Let’s look at some of the things we can do to minimize the chances of hurt while instrument flying. All along the way, remember that an important part of the operation is to continually ask yourself what comes next and what comes after that, and on and on.

The first US Air Meet, 1910

Fans attended the first major International Air Meet at Reims, France, in August 1909, with close to 500,000 spectators. It set the standard for all future air shows of the time, and inspired a group of American aviators to stage their own Air Meet. Here is the story.

An old story that happened yesterday

If you have read many aviation stories, you will suffer no harm by ignoring this one. It is an Old Story that happened yesterday. I’m sure you have heard it all before. I would find it only mildly interesting were I not the protagonist, the antagonist and the jester.