Bob Hoover and I share a secret

Did 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 620

Cessna’s 620 – the stillborn prodigy

The 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.
On final approach

Dick’s blog: there are only good questions

Is 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.
Top Gun

The Great Debate: dangerous pilots

There 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?
California radar image

Go or no go: California IFR trip

Business 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?
Flight instruction

Want to fix flight training? Have some fun.

The 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.
RedBird FMX

Taking chances – the safe way

Regardless 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?
Buffalo crash

Dick’s blog: right seat upgrade?

The 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

We 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.
User fee sign

The Great Debate: user fee questions

The 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.
runway lights at night

Magic moments

Throughout 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.
Morning fog

Moments of sheer terror

At 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

When 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.
Surface analysis

Go or no go? Marginal VFR to New Hampshire

Your planned flight today is from Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport (KBKL) to the Claremont Municipal (KCNH) in New Hampshire. Since you do not have an instrument rating, the flight will be VFR, but your Cirrus SR-20 is well-equipped. Vacation awaits--will low clouds cancel your getaway?
Clouds

Grand Plan smashed: terrified passengers

Read how a family trip meant to prove the utility of general aviation goes wrong, and changes the way this pilot flies. He suggests you "take the long view when implementing your family-flying Grand Plan."
Richard L. Collins

13 questions for Richard Collins

Richard Collins admits that, "I have never been bashful about sharing my opinions and experiences." In this frank and personal interview, he answers 13 questions about flying technique, safety, personal mistakes and more.
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Are we our brother’s keeper?

The line between trying to help and being a nosey know-it-all is narrow. A little soul searching before criticizing others might make us all better pilots. Yet, you can't in good conscience see an accident waiting to happen and do nothing. What to do is a judgment call.
Alaska highway

Ohio to Alaska by Swift

In this must-read article, an Air Facts reader shares his once-in-a-lifetime trip from Ohio to Alaska in his award-winning Swift. Read his day by day account, complete with stunning pictures. As the article proves, flying to Alaska is not as difficult as you might think.
Airplane in scrap yard

The Great Debate: too old to fly

We have had the debate on pilot age and it goes on. For this one we are talking about airplanes. Will our fleet of older airplanes fly on for five more years? Ten? Forever? Do you feel as comfortable about mechanical reliability in an older airplane as in a newer one?
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

11 things you must do with your pilot’s license

You worked hard, paid a lot of money and earned your pilot's license. Now what do you do? It's a question that comes up more often than most pilots care to admit. Let me suggest 10 things that every pilot should do before they die. Call it a bucket list if you want, but I consider it a flight plan.