Aviation’s doomsday preppers

Roughly 20% of Americans think the world will end in their lifetime. That seems awfully pessimistic, but these doomsday preppers have nothing on pilots. Based on a number of recent conversations and comments from readers here at Air Facts, a solid majority believe general aviation will end in their lifetimes. Not get weaker - cease to exist.

Flying is not an extreme sport – time to get serious about safety

We complain loudly about the cost of flying - and it is expensive. We complain about the complexity of flying and the FAA's regulations - and they are too complicated. But the topic that comes up most often when I talk to prospective pilots is safety.

Is the ADS-B glass half full?

Over the past 25 years, pilots have complained about three different transponder rules: Mode C, then Mode S and now ADS-B. Is the FAA really this incompetent or do pilots just like to gripe? As usual, the answer is a little bit of both. I say the ADS-B glass is half full.

Part of the team – what it means to be a pilot

It's one of the great pleasures of being a pilot--we get to play on the same field as the greats. Very few sandlot baseball players get to pitch at Fenway Park, but as brand new private pilots we can fly from Washington Dulles to New York LaGuardia in a 172. That's an honor we shouldn't take lightly.
TFR

Security theater – 5 things pilots shouldn’t have to live with

It's worth reviewing some of the wasteful and ineffective security programs we put up with. That's not because we should forget what happened that day, but because bad security measures hurt everyone: they cost taxpayers lots of money, they discourage pilots from using their hard-earned certificates and they distract security organizations from doing real work.

Remote ATC towers – coming to an airport near you?

The concept of remote towers, once the stuff of research papers and futurists, is now a reality--and it might be coming to the US sooner than you think. Is that a bad thing?
autopilot screen

The emergency procedure nobody practices

Upon reviewing accidents from the past few years, it's clear there is a disturbing trend in modern cockpits: pilots struggle to control the airplane after the autopilot quits flying. Now before you start bemoaning the state of stick and rudder skills and urging all pilots to start flight training in a Cub, let's consider another (more nuanced) option.

USA Today, with help from trial lawyers, gets it exactly wrong

The headline is so over the top that it looks like a parody. The front page of the USA Today screams "Safety last: lies and coverups mask roots of small-plane carnage." Words like lies and carnage are a dead giveaway that the article to follow will be a hatchet job, not serious journalism, and Thomas Frank’s three-part “investigation” doesn’t disappoint.

Dad is my copilot – Father’s Day flying thoughts

I've been flying with my dad for literally my entire life, growing up in the back of different airplanes while he flew me and my three brothers around the country. 2000+ hours later, I can't imagine life without aviation in it. More importantly, I can't imagine my relationship with my dad without flying.

10 things “real pilots” do

Have you ever met a "real pilot?" I sure haven't--at least not the ones some aviation experts talk about. According to them, real pilots only fly taildraggers, real pilots don't use GPS, real pilots don't cancel flights, etc. I have a different definition of a real pilot.
Cessna Skycatcher

The Skycatcher’s death proves the LSA rule is a failure

Light Sport Aircraft entered the world with high--probably absurd--expectations. These lighter weight, lower cost airplanes allow pilots to fly without a medical certificate, and were supposed to introduce a new generation to the glories of personal aviation. What happened?

Practice makes perfect–sometimes

Everyone wants to be a better pilot. The real question is: how do we become better pilots in the most efficient way? Fortunately, the past decade has seen a boom in the science of how people learn and improve their skills. This research has much to offer pilots.

The approach plate olympics – more crazy charts

Everybody loves a good approach plate. At least Air Facts readers do. After we shared seven bizarre instrument approach charts last year, we had hundreds of positive comments and numerous requests for more. As we like to say here, the readers are PIC, so here we will indulge your desire for more torturous procedures.

Have we won the safety battle?

Here's a number that should be on the front page of every major newspaper: 224. That's how many people died--worldwide--in airline crashes last year. Around 3 billion people flew on airlines last year, which makes 224 a simply incredible number.

One pilot’s Christmas wish list

A non-pilot friend recently asked me, "what do pilots want for Christmas this year?" Since he knows I work at Sporty's, I think he was really looking for the hot aviation gadgets of 2013. But as I thought about what would make pilots happy in the year ahead, some much bigger wishes came to mind.

New FAA medical policy – fixing a problem that doesn’t exist

In describing a new policy on obstructive sleep apnea that will soon take effect, the FAA basically put pilots on notice that if you're too fat you might lose your medical. There's no other way to read this outrageous proposal.

Have pilots lost their sense of adventure?

Almost everyone today, pilots included, is less spontaneous and less accepting of risk. That's probably a good thing overall (we're living longer), but it's less than ideal for getting the most out of a pilot's license.

7 instrument approaches you have to see to believe

In spite of what new instrument students might think, not all IFR approaches are straight-in ILSs to 200 and 1/2. Some airports just don't lend themselves to an approach. But one look at the examples in this article shows that where there's a will, there's a way.

Drones: the good, the bad and the ugly

There's a lot of talk about drones recently, some of it reasoned but most of it not. Which side is right? Probably both. If we look close enough, there may be a silver lining to this cloud--but the forecast is still cloudy.

Angle of Attack isn’t a miracle cure

Hop on the bandwagon--Angle of Attack (AoA) is the new must-have aviation accessory. This year's Oshkosh fly-in was just the latest evidence, with a number of new product introductions, safety seminars and ad campaigns all proclaiming the life-saving potential of AoA instruments.