Go or no go: how strong is the front?
Go or No GoA weekend flying trip is on the calendar today, as you're scheduled to attend a family reunion in Springfield, MO. Your flight will depart from Olive Branch Airport (OLV), just outside of Memphis, TN and arrive at the Springfield Branson Airport (SGF). Your proposed departure time is 1630Z. It's time to make the go/no go call.
Breaking in my iPad on a helo ferry
I was thereOccasionally, I get a break from the dreary doldrums of flying a FLIR-equipped MD500E police helicopter (I know, right?) with a ferry flight, moving ENG (electronic news gathering) R44s around the country. Last month, the opportunity arose to fly via airliner to Pittsburgh to move a ship to Atlanta. I thought it would be a good time to put my new iPad to the test.
Crappy runways
HistoryIt’s known as the Pucker Factor, and everyone contracts it at that particular airport where, frankly, it sucks to land. Phil Scott reviews some of the worst, from Catalina Island to the Himalayas. Read his list, then add your own nominees.
Mr. Invincible
I was thereWell I finally met that guy. That guy everyone has read about. That guy who seems to be at every airport. That guy whom no one admits to being. You know, the guy who willfully violates significant federal aviation regulations and openly brags to total strangers about his near death experiences.
Do you cancel too many flights?
John's blogSome instrument pilots apparently are uncomfortable in anything less than clear skies and unlimited visibility. It raises the question: do you cancel too many flights? Has the aviation community beaten everyone over the head with the risk management stick so much that they’re gun shy? From what I read and hear, I think it’s quite possible.
Touchdown: squeak squeak every time…
TechniqueSo if for the past 65 years we have been able to fly and land electronically, we should be able to teach a chimpanzee, or at least a pilot, how to do it with no trouble at all. That we can’t do this is illustrated by the fact that there are more accidents on landing than in any other phase of flight.
Considering a twin
OpinionIt's the eternal debate: are twins safer than singles? This author, an experienced multiengine CFI, says yes--but only if you're willing to make a serious commitment to safety. Read his prescription for safer twin flying.
Bob Hoover and I share a secret
HistoryDid this sixteen year old notice what no one else did--the great Bob Hoover making a mistake at the Reading Air Show? New author Cragg Utman tells the story, including his conversation with Hoover years later.
Cessna’s 620 – the stillborn prodigy
HistoryThe Cessna 620 was unique because it was a small version of the modern airliner of the day, sized to carry half a dozen or so executives in luxury accommodations, above the weather, in pressurized, air conditioned comfort. Why did it get canceled? Harry Clements worked on the project, and shares his opinion.
Dick’s blog: there are only good questions
Dick's blogIs it possible to know at all times what you’re doing when you’re flying? It is not only possible to know exactly what you are doing at all times, it is required. Put another way, right before every accident a pilot is flying without knowing everything that is going on in, with, around and about his airplane.
The Great Debate: dangerous pilots
DebateThere has been a lively discussion among Air Facts readers about unsafe pilots and what our responsibility is to stop them. But this begs the question: what exactly does it mean to be "unsafe?" In particular, what is the single most dangerous personality trait in a pilot?
Go or no go: California IFR trip
Go or No GoBusiness calls today, and you need to get from your home base in Santa Barbara, California (KSBA) to San Francisco (KSFO) for an important meeting. There's a bit of fog on the coast of California, but you are instrument-rated and current. Do you make the trip?
Want to fix flight training? Have some fun.
John's blogThe flight training system in this country is broken. That's what a variety of sources tell us, from a detailed AOPA study to the experts at your local hangar flying session. What’s the solution? Unfortunately, it’s both easy and difficult.
Taking chances – the safe way
I was thereRegardless of your views on the training aspects of simulators, if you have an opportunity to fly a sim, I encourage you to do so. After all, it’s flying, right? Well, sort of anyway. And don’t you like to fly?
Dick’s blog: right seat upgrade?
Dick's blogThe FAA is famous for writing proposals using illumination from burning airplane wreckage. The latest is a notice of proposed rulemaking that would increase the requirements for a pilot to serve as a first officer on U. S. passenger and cargo airlines. To say that this is probably the most sweeping change ever proposed is almost an understatement.
Recent letters
OpinionWe welcome your letters at Air Facts. Whether you want to ask us a question, comment on a story or share an opinion, send us an email. Here are two of our most recent letters, both of which share some of the unique moments that only pilots experience.
The Great Debate: user fee questions
DebateThe greedy politicians stay on a never ending quest for more money to shovel into the abyss. Given this, and given that there has been a campaign to demonize corporate jets, the imposition of general aviation user fees is in the latest budget proposal.
Magic moments
I was thereThroughout my often-interrupted flying history, there have been many memorable events, some standing out for how I scared myself through dumb cluck mistakes, and some for their delectable simplicity and beauty. The one I offer here has no drama, no risks avoided or skills demonstrated; it was just, well, a great place to be that evening. It was a place that only airmen can experience.
Moments of sheer terror
I was thereAt about the time that I intercepted the localizer course, I went into a personal “brain dump” that could have cost me my life and defines this moment of terror. I had engaged the autopilot coupler and was in that dangerous “fat, dumb and happy” mode as I flew toward the runway exactly on course. I was in clouds and fog when something made me glance out the window.
13 questions for Mac McClellan
InterviewWhen we asked Air Facts editor Richard Collins 13 questions in a recent article, readers told us they wanted more. So we put EAA Director of Publications Mac McClellan on the spot in this latest edition. For over 30 years, Mac was the Editor-in-Chief of Flying magazine, where he was known for honest opinions. He shares more in this article.