Cherokee takeoff

To flap… or not to flap?

Let’s do a shallow dive into what’s required to execute a successful “high performance” takeoff. We’ll explore issues and confusion surrounding aircraft performance speeds (“V-speeds”) and flap use during takeoffs. We’ll discuss why it’s important to know exactly what’s required for your plane, and why you should always read the fine print.
Cessna on grass

The great intermission: a renaissance in general aviation?

There is a lot of discussion about the state of GA, whether we are in decline or at the beginning of a renaissance. Briefly setting this ever tempting discussion aside, I’ll propose we are in an intermission: at nearly a million strong in the 1980s, active pilots halved a decade later; now, we are told, there’s been an increase every year since 2016. Somewhere between the GI Bill of our grandparents and the innovations in flight tech that are bringing our kids (and all ages) back to flight, we drift.

Friday Photo: smoke on

There's nothing like an airshow, especially when the white smoke from the performers streaks across a perfectly blue sky. That's the image Santiago Arbelaez captures in this Friday Photo, and the Beech 18 in the foreground isn't bad either. As he says, "Keep the image—sorry, the symphonic sound can’t be reproduced!"
Florida beaches

Flying over water, from Nebraska to the Florida Keys

My copilot and I learned to fly in 1980, and we try to take a long, fun flight every few years. This was our best and longest flight, by 300 miles. It may be his last, as he has 11 years on me. Flying out over the ocean to a point you can’t see land gives you insight to how pilots both famous and not could get messed up seeing so many shades of blue.
Two kids by Champ

Two teenagers, a 60-hp Champ, and a 2100-mile journey

“Two teenagers flying all the way across the country in a tiny airplane. What could possibly go wrong?” During the week before we left, I studied up on our noble mount. Not exactly breathtaking performance-wise, and no electrical system meant that every other leg I would get to hand-prop it to get her going. We were very weight-limited, so we only packed the barest necessities, which all had to fit in a backpack.
Boeing 747 takeoff

Memories of flying the whale—Boeing 747

The more senior types had told me over the years that flying the seven four was just like flying a great big 707 and it was true. So, what's it like to fly a great big 707? There are some interesting differences and they mostly had to do with the geometry of the airplane and its relation to Mother Earth.
Thunderstorm at night

Flying in night skies

We knew much of the world by its night skies flying 707s and 727s in the 60s through 90s. South America’s towering CBs and Saint Elmo’s fire, North Atlantic auroras, North America’s continent-spanning squall lines, and Europe’s icy winters were as familiar to us as the roads and towns commuting to work. This is about those nights and the crews of that time.
Cessna 172

Unstable (Final) Approaches – History, Fiction, and Fact

A score and more years ago, “stable approach” came into vogue as an attempt to reduce airline accidents. Why? All those airline landing accidents came from unstable approaches, so unstable approaches must be the major causal factor, right? Reality may be a bit more complicated than that—especially for GA pilots.
R44 view

Friday Photo: New York helicopter views

The first opportunity I got to take my wife up in the R44 as a pilot. We took a ride west along the south shore of Long Island up to the Hudson River. We passed the Statue of Liberty and the amazing views from the sky of Manhattan. It was a memorable experience and I cannot wait to do it again!
P-47 Thunderbolt

Old men: from Lindbergh’s flight to the horrors of World War II

It was not long before draft notices arrived in the mail of all young men. It was not a question of if you would receive one, but of when. Many decided to enlist and hope for the choice of which branch they would serve in, instead of waiting to see where they would be placed. For my brother there was never a question: if he was going to serve, his choice would be as a pilot.
Wind on water

Ya gotta be able to see the air

During my early flight training, not only did I not have a complete understanding of density altitude (see my previous story), I also missed the part about always being aware of the wind and being mindful of its effects on your airplane. It was a few years before I realized something was missing in my wind knowledge—and that realization occurred at an embarrassing moment.
Boeing wing

Fly-by-wire for beginners

What makes a fly-by-wire airplane fly-by-wire? The term is broadly used nowadays, but not often explained. Since we have many GA colleagues here, and fly-by-wire is a concept more common to the military and airline world, it might be interesting to share some pilot perspective about its way of working and our way of flying it. Since I spent the last couple months transitioning between the only two Boeing fly-by-wire models, I thought it would be worth sharing it with you.
A-1

Nose art, among other things

I imagine every aviator has a special place in their heart for their favorite airplane and may even have a name for it. In many cases, that name is prominently displayed somewhere on the beloved airplane. I have always been fascinated by WWII aircraft decorated with what is commonly called "nose art." Among my favorites is Bud Anderson’s P-51 named Old Crow, perhaps because it reminds me of myself. However, in my case The Ancient Aviator would be more fitting.
G100UL vs avgas

Lead-free avgas STC—a historical preview?

The FAA has granted an STC to GAMI allowing use of its new lead-free avgas formulation in all piston engines. That seems like a slam dunk win for lead-free fuel, something that has eluded general aviation for decades. But there is at least one precedent of how an STC for a vital piston engine fluid can go wrong.
Sunset wing

Friday Photo: sunset over South Carolina

For Duncan Witte, the shorter days of fall aren't all bad, especially when his Piper Arrow is involved. "I really enjoy evening and night flying in the autumn. The weather is getting cooler, the air is smooth, and you sometimes get a spectacular sunset like this one."
Texas Raiders

Wings Over Dallas airshow tragedy: an eyewitness account from a pilot

What I first noticed, which foreshadowed the fateful event, was the graceful, arcing line and extreme closure rate of the P-63 moments before impact. The thought became, Wow. I wonder what his rejoin will look like, in an attempt by my pilot eye to reconcile how he was going to rejoin on the B-17, something I was clearly not expecting and knew was impossible considering the speed and geometry.
Middlesboro, Ky

An accident waiting to happen?

There are some predictions I wish hadn’t come true. This is one of them. I didn’t know the guy personally, but I vicariously knew his airplane. It was an A36 Bonanza, and the way I got to know it was that any day I happened to look at what was going on at Downtown Island Airport in Knoxville, it seemed this particular plane had taken off, headed for Middlesboro, Kentucky. Time wise it made no sense, but if he wanted to fly for the fun of it, it was an excellent excuse. Most mornings.
Four Winds

The Four Winds: Spain’s record-setting flight to Cuba in 1933

On June 10, 1933, two Spanish officers departed Tablada Aerodrome in Seville, Spain. Captain Mariano Baberan's and Lieutenant Joaquin Collar Serra's goal was to fly nonstop from Spain to Cuba. Their aircraft was a Breguet XIX, a French-designed biplane having begun life as a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft.
Plane in field

Engine failure: how to predict it and how to react

A friend of mine flying an RV-6 had an engine failure on takeoff. He was 15 seconds into the flight, airborne with no going back. He put down in a corn field. He and his passenger walked away mostly unhurt. The aircraft not so much. There are lots of articles out there about flying the aircraft in this scenario but very few about what caused the abrupt power failure.
Chicago

A North American flying adventure with my son

This was the year that I decided to finally attend EAA AirVenture for the first time, in our 1962 Cessna 182E. The planning began in May with me studying all I could to make a trip like this go smoothly. One of the best pieces of news I received during all of this planning was that my 17-year-old son Peter wanted to come along for the adventure. It was going to be a father-son trip to top any that came before it.