Passenger in RV-12

An unforgettable passenger shows the power of sharing a flight

I have given a lot of people rides in both my RV-6 and now in my RV-12, and I always enjoy it as least as much as they do. What I have failed to realize, though, is that what I consider to be nothing more than a small favor may very well be measured at a far higher worth to the recipient. Phil was one of those passengers.
PSP airport with mountains

Baptism by air

I decided to descend to 3000 feet, by cutting power and setting the nose down slightly. Suddenly all hell broke loose, and the airplane felt like it was being pushed by a force from above. My airspeed was approaching 160 kts with power pulled back.

Friday Photo: sunset over a composite wing

Newly-minted private pilot Dominic Carpenter took advantage of a beautiful night to fly down the western coastline of Michigan in his rented Diamond DA40. The results was a fun cross country flight to celebrate his license, and a beautiful image.

Go or No Go: coastal California flight

It's not a long flight, and it's the type of mission that makes your Cessna 182 such a valuable asset to your business: a dash down the coast of California from Santa Barbara (KSBA) to your home airport of Montgomery Field in San Diego (KMYF). A four hour drive turns into a one hour flight, but will the weather cooperate?
Checkride complete

Staying alive: the merits of multi-state training

Weather was almost never an issue in California, but I sure learned about the effects of density altitude in ways I’d never experienced in Alaska. Off-airport landings and gravel takeoffs are common enough in Alaska, but I sure learned the value of understanding Air Traffic Control procedures and complex airspace flying through the Lower 48.
Yellow jacket

A different kind of buzz job

I taxied onto runway 9, gradually added full power and rotated at 65 knots. As I climbed out, I scanned the instruments and then the horizon, left to right. The engine sounded good, key gauges for a departure climb – airspeed, altimeter, turn coordinator and one of my favorites, oil pressure - all in the green. As my eyes reached the right side of the windshield, my eyes locked on, panic rising...

Friday Photo: glacier in France

A ski vacation turned into much more for Hrag Sarkissian. In this week's Friday Photo, he shares a the postcard view he saw when he touched down on La Grande Motte Glacier in France. The unique runway was a result of a short ski-flying checkout from an "altiport."
Wildfire smoke

Flying through fire and ice

I noticed a narrow, dark column of black smoke rising from the valley floor, directly in our flight path a few miles ahead. Being both young and ignorant, I thought to myself, “I’m instrument rated; we’ll pop out of the back of that thing in an instant and it will be fun.” So I aimed for the smoke column.
Route 66 with Cub shadow

Transcendental reactions – how aviation and photography work together

Russell Munson is one of aviation's most celebrated photographers, contributing to Richard Bach's classic book Jonathan Livingston Seagull and dozens of cover photos for Flying magazine. He's also an active general aviation pilot. We asked him about photography, airplanes and what happens when the two come together.
Alec Helmke with grandfather

Joining the brotherhood – a student pilot’s first cross country

I sat in the complex glass cockpit and looked over an array of instruments which I had no idea how to interpret. This was the most advanced and expensive aircraft I had ever been in, but I was not the pilot. In fact, to reach this point, I had flown in an aircraft many consider the archetype of simplicity…

Friday Photo: highest mountain in the lower 48

Medevac pilot Bill Custer shares this week's photo from the cockpit of his Piper Cheyenne. On a flight back to base from a patient drop off, he snapped this view of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US.
S-Tec 55X autopilot

The case for automation

Lately there has been a lot of focus on over-reliance on automation in the cockpit – both in general aviation and the Part 121 world. Most of us can agree that as our avionics and aircraft become more sophisticated and automation becomes more affordable, this is a very real problem. But what about those of us who insist on flying with too little automation?

Dogfighting with ADS-B traffic over Pennsylvania

It was an unremarkable flight so far, but suddenly the large letters “TRAFFIC” plastered across my screen with corresponding alert. Three hundred feet below and slightly behind was an airplane, approaching fast. I banked left and right in my low wing craft, looking for the guy, who must be right below me, now 200 feet. On a collision course.

Forced landings: is getting your shoes muddy the biggest risk?

I was always of two minds about forced landings after a power failure. One, if I thought the engine was going to quit I wouldn’t go flying. Two, I knew that engines did quit so I had best not be surprised if one did, and had best have a plan for what comes next.

Friday Photo: Alaska sunset

This week's Friday photo comes to us from Alaska, where Rob Murray snapped this picture of a beautiful sunset off Baranof Island. The only thing better than the sunset is the classic airplane in the foreground: a 1952 DeHavilland Beaver.
Full cockpit of aviation authors

10 pilots in a 4-seat Cessna

I am so lucky. Every flight, I am accompanied by nine extraordinary pilots, looking over my shoulder and whispering in my ear. They have made my flying safer, more enjoyable and less expensive. They’ll go with you, too. All you have to do is ask.
Foggy runway

IFR departures: the forgotten procedure

Instrument pilots obsess about approaches: if you can keep those needles crossed all the way down to 200 ft, you must be a good pilot. While shooting an ILS to minimums is an important skill, this all presupposes you managed to depart safely. Unfortunately, NTSB reports prove that's a big assumption - each year, a few pilots tragically learn that IFR departures aren't as simple as they seem.
Boeing wing iced over

Airplanes vs. blizzards: a few war stories

As the blizzard of 2016 was raging on January 23rd I looked at the video of stranded motorists, stuck cars, cars in ditches, and traffic snarls and wondered what in the world possessed those people to make them try to go somewhere. Then I scratched my head and remembered what possessed me when I used to challenge snowstorms in little airplanes. I was big on running the traps as scheduled and a blizzard was no excuse for not being there.

Friday Photo: runway in Sweden

This week's Friday Photo has an international flavor. Dmitrij Karpenko snapped this photo of Vaesteras airport, outside Stockholm, from his Glasair Sportsman just before turning final. The sun is lighting up the water in the distance, while another airplane prepares to land.
Piper Cub

Old men and old airplanes

Are old guys attracted to old airplanes by nostalgia? For sure, in the first 30 years or so after WWII, there were lots of pilots whose romance with aviation began in the excitement of Lindbergh’s Atlantic crossing, grew through the “Golden Age” of ‘30s air racing and record-setting, and perhaps matured as biplanes went to war.