Flaires

Pitch black landing in Vietnam

I asked ALCC if they had any runway lighting. They stated that that field did not have any lighting. I told ALCC to stand by. I got out my list for the artillery units for that location, called the first unit and asked if they had any parachute flares. They responded that they did, and I asked them to pop one.
AIRMET turb

Bratburger-itis: a memorable trip

All week long, the weather was looking good. When I called for my flight weather briefing Friday morning (note this is before the common use of internet weather), the briefer mentioned the potential for moderate turbulence and potential for gusty winds. The velocity of the winds he forecast was less than what I had comfortably handled before so I wasn’t concerned. And, after all, I had a whole two years of flying under my belt!

Go or No Go: above or below the clouds?

You earned your instrument rating years ago, but you haven't been current in a long time. Now you're kicking yourself for that lapse in currency, because your VFR-only limitation is going to make an easy IFR flight into a marginal VFR flight. You're hoping to fly your 1972 Cessna 182 from your home in Middletown, Ohio (MWO), to Marion, Illinois (MWA). Will the weather cooperate?
Wing with snow

Is that airframe icing or snow?

You're flying in visible moisture with the air temperature below freezing and you notice something building up on the leading edge of the wings. Is that airframe icing? What you see collecting on the wing leading edges in a cold cloud could be airframe icing, or it could be snow. Icing is bad, maybe very bad, but snow isn’t much of a problem. How do you know the difference?

Friday photo: Airbus X3

The X3 was unusual from many different perspectives, not the least of which being the addition of a pair of stub wings with tractor propellers at their tips. The propellers, though appearing to have their own powerplants, were actually driven by the engines that drove the main rotor.
Cessna 411

Always bring a flashlight

November is the time of year in the Midwest that can bring beautiful crisp late fall days, or it can bring fog, snow, ice, and a freezing rain chilling to the soul. In late November of 1981 I had a flight that encountered almost all of those that mother nature could provide.
PIREP turbulence

Understanding Vb: turbulence penetration speed

It should be clear that when expecting/encountering turbulence, that pilots should fly a speed that is slower than Va by at least the value of the maximum gust—airspeed gain—they expect to encounter, and higher than Vs1 by the same value for potential airspeed loss. Va is simply too fast!
Gulfstream

A lucky pilot: flying celebrities around the world in a Gulfstream

Scottsdale operations called: “I have scheduled you on a ten-day South American tour with Elton John starting on the 17th. Find another captain to go with you. Elton’s agent wants an additional pilot besides Ernie... he wants to see two people with some white hair in the cockpit.”
Malik in sim

Flying with Malik: why the newest generation of pilots will be great

Malik now has the distinction of being the youngest black person in the world to have received a B-777 type rating. That’s only fitting, because most people think I’m about 60. I now have the distinction of being the oldest person in the world to have received a B-777 type rating, at 74. But neither of us knew this until after we had completed our training.
Pipstrel in flight

Friday Photo: storm over the Everglades

The Pipistrel Sinus motorglider is all about fun flying, and that's what Todd Tracy captures in this Friday Photo. His wingtip-mounted GoPro camera shows him soaring over the Everglades in Florida, with a typical summertime rain shower making itself known in the background.
Glider on tow

Engine failure at 150 feet, with a glider in tow

I was towing and we were taking a passenger on a ride. As I recall the ride was a very attractive young lady so there were many volunteers among the commercial pilots, but it was Joni Whitten’s turn and she was not relinquishing that turn. The flight was normal until we were at about 150 feet over the woods at the south end of the runway, when the engine quit.
In 172

Back in the Saddle on a Very Different Horse

And then she said it: “why don’t you fly anymore?” My response was simple: “I don’t know.” Suddenly, I had a flying club membership application in my hand—I was going to get my ASEL (I didn’t know what that was, just that was what I was going to get). There I was, a Commercial, Instrument-rated helicopter pilot, learning to land an airplane
Campfire

From FUBAR to fabulous: landing at 200 strips in three months

If you do a search for 2020 memes, there is no shortage of graphic illustrations why this year has been FUBAR (look it up if you don't understand) for travellers, especially those of us who prefer to journey by air. And yet, I managed to have my best flying season ever in 2020 while travel was restricted to my home province of Manitoba!
Pilatus ice

Ice bridging: the myth that won’t die

Ice bridging is the idea that if you operate the boots too early, you will stretch the ice but not fracture it. When the boot deflates following the cycle, the stretched ice will remain, with more ice building on top of it. Yet there is not a single test conducted in anyone’s icing research wind tunnel that has been able to replicate ice bridging, nor are there any accidents that document ice bridging as a cause or contributory factor.

Friday Photo: somewhere over the rainbow

Returning east at 11,000 feet from Saint Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, to Asheville, North Carolina, on an Angel Flight mission. Major thunderstorm activity over Knoxville. ATC queried me, “Do you want to divert north or south? Suggest south.” Good choice.
Smoke in cockpit

A checkride turns smoky

The examiner was competent and fair, and he really put me through my paces. The flight was going well, and I was confident. He asked me to set a course for Lost Nation Airport in order to do some pattern work. The flight suddenly become far more interesting. I thought I noticed an odd smell in the cockpit, something  unfamiliar in the context of the trusty 152.
New engine

The $20 an hour Cessna 172 experiment

Although I had a GA background and built time as a CFI, I’ve been flying for the airlines for three decades and have been absent from the GA scene, which I mistakenly assumed had long evolved and would now seem foreign to me. After just a few calls, nothing had seemed to change except that the same 1970 vintage 172s were now renting out at $115-$125 per hour.
Electra

Three out of four ain’t bad—unless you’re in a Lockheed Electra

September 11, 1996, will always remain in my memory. We had recently departed Terre Haute, Indiana, and were now cruising eastbound toward the Atlantic Coast at Flight Level 210. A young captain (me, at 40 years old) was still on his proving runs with a check airman when there was a problem. We had an engine fire warning on engine number four.

Friday Photo: the sun sets on a rewarding flight

Sometimes you're so busy flying that you forget to take a photo until after you've landed. That's what Tom Kingston shares in this Friday Photo, but what a great way to remember a flight—a beautiful sunset in the western sky serves as a colorful reminder of a great flight in his Cessna 172.
VFR on top

VFR over the top: legal, but not clever

In many countries, you can’t fly VFR without reference to the ground. This is applicable even to sport, recreational, and student pilots in America, but usually after you are a private pilot you can. But what if you need to land?