Pilot talking on radio in Cessna

5 things every VFR pilot should say

Radio communication is always one of the hardest things to learn for many pilots. It actually seems to make flying harder sometimes: you’re already busy flying the airplane when ATC gives you a call so fast all you catch is your tail number. Other pilots in CTAF areas can make it even worse. Let me give you the top five things I’ve learned to say over the years that have made flying easier and safer.
Takeoff by Cessna

Takeoff: the riskiest three minutes

There has been a rash of takeoff accidents featured in the news. That cabin-class Cessna hitting the trees in Alabama was dramatic, as was the footage of the Beech Duchess in a yard in Florida. There have been a lot others and when I read of these I think about how unforgiving airplanes can be if you fly away without the old ducks all in a row.

Friday Photo: San Francisco moonrise

San Francisco Bay is a unique place to fly, and Paul De Zan captures a lot of the activity in this week's Friday Photo. From the dark water to the shining city lights to the airliners landing at SFO, it's all visible from the cockpit of a Cessna 172. Off in the distance, a warm moon rises from the horizon.
Cub on floats

My floatplane rating – not easy, but worth it

I arrived at the seaplane base bright and early to find that I was to be the only student. You wouldn’t guess it from the Orlando traffic, but it was something of an off-season, at least with regard to people looking for floatplane ratings.
decision right and wrong

To go or not to go? That is the (wrong) question

We falsely view most aviation decisions as binary. The language of decision-making subtly reinforces this, with exhortations to "keep it simple" or "be confident." What we end up with is a hopelessly unrealistic set of answers: yes or no, black or white. We should know better. Flying is all about subtle clues, 50/50 decisions and shades of gray.
David Flynn by Cessna

Where is the “airport community?”

I was trying to find ways to get involved at the local airport – but found it much more challenging than I had hoped. I was willing to wash planes, clean hangars, or just about anything else if it meant I got to hang around the airport and meet some people, but even finding pilots to do so with was difficult. I couldn’t find any form of connection or community between the pilots at this airport.

Friday Photo: blue Bahamas water

The first time I flew to the Bahamas was in the spring of 1974 in a 1952 Piper TriPacer. On this flight, we're in our Aerostar following the magenta line - precisely knowing our position, ground speed, ETA, etc. The technology may have changed, but the beauty of the islands has not.

Certifying pilots: the new Airman Certification Standards

The FAA is gearing up to start replacing the Practical Test Standards – the FAA’s checkride guidance for applicants, instructors, and designated pilot examiners (DPEs). The PTS has been the “Cliff Notes-to-the-Checkride” for years. Why in the world would the FAA mess with a good thing?
Breezy in flight

A new kind of open cockpit – first flight in a Breezy

A home at Highcrest airport provides abundant opportunities to pilot a wide variety of flying machines, and my first flight in a Breezy was here... it is also one I am not likely to forget!
Helipad in rain forest

Helicopter techniques – (not) for dummies

Some time after having served as a bush pilot and mechanic in the tropical rain forests of Borneo as well as in the high mountain regions of Papua – Irian Jaya for a few years, I was asked to present a lecture to a symposium of the Christian Pilots Association CPV in Germany, to broach the issue of advantages and limitations of helicopter operations in mission aviation.

Friday Photo: Mt. Bachelor, Oregon

Mt. Bachelor, a popular ski resort in Oregon, makes for a beautiful subject in this week's Friday Photo. Student pilot John Belnap snapped this photo of the snow-covered peak from a Cessna 172 as he flew to Bend with friend and fellow pilot Jonathan Jenson.
Arkansas River

Cross-country at 75mph – a Champ earns her name

I was sitting in my 1946 Aeronca Champ at the edge of the runway at Chambers County-Winnie Stowell Airport, just outside the town of Winnie, Texas. I was only about 40 miles from my home airport at La Porte, Texas, on the final leg of a nearly 1800-mile round trip from Texas to Kentucky.
Quail Commander

Dead reckon: Georgia to Ecuador in a crop duster

When a pilot thinks about some of the flights he flew during the early years of a piloting career, one can’t help thinking, “What was I thinking back then?” The event I am referring to took place in February 1970, when I flew a new crop duster from the factory in Georgia to the buyer, a farmer in Ecuador.
Aero Friedrichshafen show

General aviation in Europe is both inspiring and frightening

For a crass American, AERO is a very civilized show, held in a beautiful convention center with great coffee and lively beer gardens. Oshkosh this isn't. Beyond these mundane differences, though, the show offers a fascinating lesson for US pilots. If all you've heard is how awful things are for private pilots in Europe, let me offer a more complete - although not entirely rosy - portrait.

Friday Photo: Sierra Nevada mountains at sunrise

The early bird gets the worm, but he also gets the beautiful sunrise. Pilot John Krikorian shares this week's Friday Photo, with the sun peeking out from behind a few clouds over the Sierra Nevada mountains. He was on a trip in a Cessna 182 to Mexico to support the Flying Doctors of Mercy.
Citation factory line

Airplane certification: be careful what you wish for…

What most pilots don’t realize is that certifying that exciting new design is but a small part of the picture. There’s financing, engineering, production and sales and, in the end, profit. If the latter isn’t possible all the rest can be for naught. This is why I, for one, take the proposed rewrite of Part 23 certification standards not with a grain, but with a round blue cardboard container of salt.
Confidence thermometer

Why CFIs need to think about confidence more

Who would feel safe flying with someone who did not have an appropriate level of confidence? In my mind, developing a student’s self-confidence should be one of the main jobs of the instructor. During periods where pilots are not actively undergoing flight training, it needs to be something they work on themselves. I can think back to several experiences which taught me this firsthand.

First trip to SUN ‘n FUN

It’s been just over a week since I departed KLAL (Lakeland, Florida) after enjoying four wonderful days at SUN ‘n FUN 2016. This had been the first airshow I have attended, and being what I consider to be a “new pilot” (205 hours, PPL earned just one year ago) it was an amazing experience.

Friday Photo: why we love flying

Take a beautiful airplane and a beautiful vista and you get a special photo. This week's cockpit photo comes from Greg Pepper, who snapped this one on the way home from Dallas in his Cirrus. As he says, it's a great reminder of why pilots love what they do.

Area Forecast replacement – what does it really say?

The old Area Forecast (FA) is going away, and I for one say good riddance. This textual forecast product has plenty of valuable information, but its ALL CAP format is a leftover from a previous era, making it a pain to use. Besides, almost everything in the FA can be found elsewhere these days. Everything, that is, except cloud top forecasts.