Freedom to the Form

I’ve given a lot of people their first flight. Seeing things as they are, from the air, is fundamentally optimistic. People tell me it’s transcendent because it allows them to see the day-to-day rat race in a different way. The transcendence of seeing your neighborhood or your city from six thousand feet is the spiritual opposite of living in forms.
Corsair V8

The Corsair C172-V8 Experiment Update #3—Reader’s Suggestions

Unfortunately, it became clear that FAA leadership had no interest in supporting such a solution—whether as an experimental conversion for certified airframes or via a STC (a certification that would allow owners to replace their original engine with ours on certified aircraft)—regardless of the potential benefits.

Friday Photo: Texas Skies on a Fun Fuel Run

The Texas skies enroute to Cherokee County Airport (KJSO), Jacksonville, Texas for fuel in the Sonex. Every flight is a gift! Cherish all of them.
CFI with student

Flying with the Old Breed—Why’d You Do That?

Diane tasked Charlie Stanton, a USMC veteran of WWII,  to instruct me in the craft and discipline of an instrument-rated pilot. Tall, lean, opinionated, and looking perpetually pissed off about something, Charlie was all business.  He didn’t mince his words either, speaking in that clipped, point-blank manner of the military. He could have been a character from a Pat Conroy novel.

Carburetor Icing and My Taylorcraft Accident

Preventing ice is your best bet to avoid becoming an NTSB statistic. Follow your airplane flight manual or operating handbook's instructions and use your carburetor heat whenever icing is probable. Remember, you can even pick up ice when taxiing or idling on the ground. If ice is likely, run the carb heat for a few minutes prior to takeoff to make sure that the carburetor is clear.
cirrus sr-22

Close, but no Cigar

We were passed from Miami Center to Havana Center as we approached Cuban airspace and the Cuban controllers were both professional and helpful as we went wheels dry only 40 minutes after leaving KMTH. From 8,000 feet (minimum to cross over Cuba), we saw lots of land under agriculture and a large road bisecting the island east to west but only one car on the road. We also saw several airfields of great length, like one might use for large military aircraft?
atlas air b767

Panic, and How To Not

Reading the accident reports where pilots panic and make fatal mistakes is helpful.  But—the most helpful thing to do—for me, anyway—to ward off panic and build flying confidence is train, train, train.  Drill, baby, drill.  Flashcards and chair-flying and flying are my friends.

Sounds you NEVER want to hear

I declared an emergency with the MacDill tower.  I also cleared the two students to break away and head straight to the base and get on the ground ASAP; I didn’t want to close the runway with them still in the air.  I directed the IP in #3 to ‘chase’ me, which meant he would be alongside to observe that my gear ‘blew down’, to back me up on the checklist, and to make sure I didn’t get ‘behind the aircraft’ as I handled this emergency. 
rnav approach

Friday Photo: RNAV Approach at Cumberland Regional Airport

Conditions and visibility kept changing due to haze. Density altitude at CBE was over 3,000’ and, with airport elevation at 775' and the mountain straight ahead, I decided to go missed and fly to the alternate of MRB (Martinsburg, West Virginia). 

The Flying Sport

What’s not obvious to a lot of non-pilot folk is that flying is one of the few passions you absolutely must do regularly just to safely do it. Think about that for a second:  unlike other modes of transportation, you can stop driving for several months, even years, and still be able to get back into a vehicle with little to no training. Flying isn’t like that.
turbulent clouds

Turbulence

Mountainous terrain has its own share of drama for the pilot who is cruising over flat terrain and can see the terrain rising in front of him. On the East Coast, the Appalachians, and in the West, the Rockies, pose an interesting threat. The former can produce some interesting chatter in the aircraft all the way up to 10,000 feet.

VFR Challenge from Pilot Workshops—A Fuel’s Errand

You're making a 650nm VFR cross-country from Red Wing, Minnesota (KRGK) to Sheridan, Wyoming (KSHR) for a ski trip. About half way there, at your only planned fuel stop, you discover the self-serve pump is inoperative. Now, with no other airports within comfortable fuel range, you'll have to find a way out of this mess. None of your options are very good, and each one adds potential risks or long delays. Let's jump in and see what you would decide.
cub enroute

An A-Maze-ing Day of Flying!

Instead of a “Sunday Drive”, we elected to do some exploring from the sky—a “Sunday Flight”.  The mission was to go up and see the beginning of the season change from lush green leaves of summer to the multitude of oranges autumn has to bring. On top of the list were some corn mazes to circle, ending with landing at one of the local grass strips for a picnic lunch. We wanted to break free from the hustle and bustle and just enjoy the freedom that flying has to offer.
t-34

Navy primary flight training—the instructor had it coming

He explained roll control by snapping the stick left and right, causing my helmet to nearly strike the canopy. Then, to define pitch control, he sharply shoved the stick forward to about minus 1G, and hauled it back to about plus 2Gs. At about that point, straight ahead, a towering cumulus cell loomed up. We could have banked steeply right or left to avoid it but Morris chose a different path.
cape cod sunset

Friday Photo: Sunset at Cape Cod Gateway Airport

We took a quick flight to one of our favorite ice cream places near Chatham Municipal Airport (KCQX) on a beautiful July evening. Upon landing back at KHYA we were treated to this sunset. Truly the cherry on top!

Interactive Exercise: Test Your Knowledge of RNAV Approach Charts

In this interactive exercise, through guided examples and hands-on practice, you'll learn to identify and interpret key symbols, such as waypoints, course reversals, and missed approach points, all designed to help you navigate the complexities of RNAV procedures with confidence.
wing

The Captain is Lying and We can Prove It

Cruising along peacefully at 28,000 feet, and maybe 200 miles north of Los Angeles, I got a call on the interphone from the purser. She told me that some of the passengers on the right side of the first-class cabin were saying out loud that they thought the right engine was not running.
172rg

Multiple Cessna 172RGs made me a better pilot

I turned toward my side and saw that the the left main was hanging but not locked in the forward position. Uh Oh! I immediate called the Tower and explained my situation and they sent us out over toward Lake Winnebago to manually pump the gear down. A C-172RG gear should pump down and lock in 35 strokes (just like in the movies). About pump 100, I knew this was not going to work. It was a hydraulic system failure.
Teardrop diagram

What’s wrong with the teardrop pattern entry

Having solved the impossible turn and other manufactured crises, the aviation training industry (or at least some YouTubers and keyboard warriors) has now turned its attention to the teardrop pattern entry. This “innovation” is alternately described as wildly unsafe or the only legal option for entering the traffic pattern. In reality it’s neither, but the bigger problem is that most pilots don’t even know what it means.

A Big Surprise from an FAA Inspector

During the ILS approach, the glide slope failed. The DC-10 ahead of us made a missed approach. I advised the first officer to change the decision altitude of 852 feet to the minimum descent altitude of 1,140 feet and that we would continue the approach to localizer approach minimums. I also stated that I started the timer at the outer marker.