From zero to hero – every professional was once an amateur
OpinionIn aviation, a newly minted private pilot is given some of the same responsibilities and authorizations shared by their 30,000 hour ATP counterparts. I see many similarities to the newly graduated surgeon working among his more seasoned peers with 20 years of experience and thousands of operations under their belts.
Friday Photo: a French chateau from the air
Friday PhotoThe historic Chateau de Chantilly is just 30 miles north of Paris, but looks like a time capsule from the 19th century. Philippe Platek was flying over it on a beautiful day when he took this photo from his Tecnam P-2008JC. It shows the Grand Chateau and the stunning formal gardens. The perfect flight for a general aviation airplane.
When a practice emergency becomes the real thing
I Can't Believe I Did ThatEverything looked perfect – too perfect as it turned out. I kept expecting Bob to advance the throttle (or tell me to) so we could fly out of there, but instead we kept getting lower, flying a final approach to the off-airport landing spot. I couldn’t quite believe it when Bob, instead of applying power and initiating the go-around, started a landing flare!
The two rules of weather flying
Weather GeekIt’s when you start to plan longer trips, over several hours or several days, that you develop a deeper understanding of how to navigate the atmosphere. And for me there are two principles that guide my thinking on these journeys: the weather will always change; and, it’s always scarier on the computer screen!
A fly-in movie night in the mountains of Australia
I was thereI was particularly interested to see an event titled “Porepunkah Movie Night” advertised in a magazine. Porepunkah is a beautiful location in the Victorian Alps, and I remembered flying in there once before. It is a grass airstrip of about 770 metres, surrounded by mountains.
Friday Photo: the Swiss Alps
Friday PhotoThe weak sun of October had not completely removed the fog in the south of the Black Forest and over Switzerland. The Alps were sticking out of the cloud layer in the South. The air was smooth at FL090. I was crossing the arrival sectors of Zurich and the controllers had given me the most direct route that I could dream of.
We flew a Mooney to Cuba for the weekend!
I was thereIt was a cold February day when I decided that we would fly our 1994 Mooney M20R to Havana, Cuba. Restrictions for U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba had recently been lifted. The island was only 90 miles from Key West. We had flown our Mooney to the Out Islands of the Bahamas in the past. The only problem was that my wife did not want to go.
A Christmas book list for pilots: 18 top picks
John's blogAs social media and cable TV deteriorate into ill-informed shouting matches, I find myself reading more and more books. And as a book lover, Christmas means making my list and distributing it to family and friends. So in the spirit of the holidays I'll offer my list of great aviation books.
Stuck on a riverbed in a Champ
I Can't Believe I Did ThatAs I flew alone over the river near Fillmore, California, I noticed a really big area of sand that had been scoured flat and level by that high water. It was white, obvious and very clean looking, and the water was long gone. This is when it occurred to me that a guy might just be able to land on it in a Champ with big tires.
Friday Photo: rainbow off the left wing
Friday PhotoThe old saying reminds us that behind every cloud there's a silver lining. Most pilots know that behind every line of summer showers, there's a rainbow. Ed Loxterkamp was in the perfect position to capture this beautiful sight when he was flying home from EAA AirVenture in his Piper Arrow.
The tricky triangle – my ill-fated solo cross country
I was there“If you don’t like the weather in the Midwest, wait 30 minutes,” they say. I guess there is some truth in that, a truth that I now consider to be a substantial part of my flight preparations. In early summer 2017, I was still a student pilot, preparing for the 150 NM cross country flight, which was one of the last things I had to cross off my list for meeting the requirements for taking the private pilot checkride.
A brief history of single-engine solo circumnavigation flights
HistoryEarth Rounders currently document 231 single-engine circumnavigations by more than one pilot and 124 solo circumnavigations. The range of single-engine airplanes that have made circumnavigations is amazing: Long EZs, RVs, a Stearman, a Searey. Unbelievable! Of course Mooneys, Bonanzas, Pipers, several Cessna 182s and all kinds of homebuilts have made the trip.
Dreaming of jets while flying a DC-3
I was thereIt was clear, it was fresh with only a faint odor of exhaust from the nearby Braniff jet’s APU to remind us there were easier ways to fly for a living. Over there was hot coffee, hostesses, snacks from the galley. Over here, we could see our breath in the cabin. When will I be warm while flying airplanes? Not soon, I knew.
Friday Photo: Music City at sunset
Friday PhotoGetting the perfect nighttime photo is part skill and part timing. Glenn Ford had both for this fantastic shot of Nashville, Tennessee. The high wing of his Cessna 172 left a sprawling view of the lights that make "Music City USA" so vibrant.
My first in-flight emergency
I was thereWhen it came time to leave, I fueled up the airplane and headed for home. The runup went smoothly and within a few minutes I was accelerating down the runway. Only I wasn’t. The mighty 150 usually didn’t have an impressive acceleration on takeoff but it felt especially sluggish today. I remember thinking, “This is weird,” and that thought turned to, “I’m not sure I’m going to make it off the runway” so I aborted the takeoff.
From the archives: Bob Buck on radar
Air Facts ArchivesWhile datalink weather is all the rage these days, some 60 years ago, Captain Robert N. Buck thought another hot weather technology, onboard radar, was ready to change the world. This article originally appeared in the November, 1956 edition of Air Facts, and it's still a fascinating look at how pilots interact with new technology.
The unleaded fuel disaster – what it means for pilots
John's blogThe transition from leaded avgas to an unleaded future has been decades in the making, and countless articles have discussed everything from the certification process to the chemistry. And yet many pilots don’t know how bad things are right now, as other topics (ADS-B, drones) get most of the attention.
Friday Photo: leaving storms on the other side of the mountains
Friday PhotoSometimes the ever-changing weather means you have to be patient and creative. For corporate pilot Duane Mader, the reward for one of those days was a beautiful view of the Wyoming Big Horns from his CJ2. As he was climbing VFR and waiting to pick up an IFR clearance, it occurred to Duane that that type of maneuvering is true freedom.
The pre-preflight inspection: know your plane’s history
I was thereMy plan was on my kneeboard, my chart on the passenger seat and I was heading north above a sea of green trees, bound for Sullivan County Airport (MSV). Suddenly, all of the lights on my instrument panel went dead. As quickly as they went off, the lights returned.
10 ways to know you’re ready to be an airline captain
OpinionI completed my line check last night, which went pretty smooth overall. I screwed up the usual stupid stuff you don’t normally screw up, but because the weight of the check is present in your head and really nowhere else, this stuff happens. I am left with the feeling of what now?