While NDBs are becoming rare, the bearing pointer skills used to fly them are extraordinarily useful, both as a mental exercise and in practical 21st century IFR operation. Read more →
Tag: flight training
A License to Learn
When a newly minted pilot receives his or her temporary pilot certificate after a successful checkride, the examiner often refers to this piece of paper as a “license to learn”. Nearly twenty years into my flying career, does this aphorism still hold water? Read more →
The Perception of Value
Everyone in the GA world would love to see more people learning to fly. But when we encourage folks with other priorities to adopt our own perception of aviation’s value, are we doing them a favor or simply setting them up for failure? Read more →
We Don’t Train For That
Corporate & charter flying is already pretty safe, but I believe we can do even better. Perhaps instead of focusing primarily engine failures, we ought to look at the things that are causing accidents for a particular aircraft type and add them to a database of training scenarios which can be enacted in the simulator without prior notice. In other words, more teaching and less testing. Read more →
The Key to Good IFR: More VFR
The most common landing procedure used by IFR airplanes is the visual approach. It’s fast, efficient, and simple. So why did the crew of Asiana 214 have such a hard time with it on a good clear day? Because quality IFR flying starts with a solid VFR background — and VFR flying is something ab initio pilots see very little of. Read more →
Mandated Spin Training
The stick-and-rudder skill deficiencies in today’s pilots didn’t start today. It began years ago when they were learning how to fly. Fixing it will require a journey into the past. It’s time to get back to basics, and you won’t cover all the bases unless spin training is a central part of the mix. Read more →
The Missing Link in Flight Simulation
Several months ago I mused about the how ever-advancing computer technology has led to a marked improvement in simulators for the light GA market. Reader Keith Smith later alerted me to a corresponding service he had developed called PilotEdge. His company’s mission is to add a level of realism to the general aviation FTD that not even the multi-million dollar Level D boxes have thus far been able to offer. I was intrigued. What could possible transform an inexpensive Flight Training Device that way? In a word: radios. Read more →
Looking Back: How I Got Started in Aviation
Hard to believe I’ve been in the flying game for 15 years now. Let’s take a look back and see how it all started. Read more →
IPC as a Flight Review?
I’m often asked if an Instrument Proficiency Check can double as a flight review. Unfortunately, it can’t. Here’s why. Read more →
Back to Basics
Further analysis of comments coming in from the blogosphere about the pros and cons of cockpit automation. My take? In the end, it’s all about the beginning. Read more →