A massive Boeing Dreamlifter recently landed at the wrong airport in Wichita. As a pilot, by definition I live in a glass house and will therefore refrain from throwing stones. But the incident does provide a good opportunity to review the perils of what’s known as “expectation biasâ€, because this phenomenon can bite hard — if you let it. Read more →
The Christmas season is upon us, and while it’s doubtful I deserve much more than a lump of coal, that hasn’t stopped me from salivating over a piece of aviation art from a Torrance-based company called Motoart. Read more →
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 →
Brazil has long been on my mental “bucket list” of places to visit. Not only is it one of the world’s largest countries both geographically and by population — fifth on both counts — but it’s also the center of attention right now because they are hosting 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Then there’s the Amazon rainforest; one in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon, by far the largest collection anywhere. Anyway, recently a two-week trip came up that allowed me to cross this one off my list in the best way possible: on the company dime. Read more →
Dutch pilot Jaap Rademaker recently landed his Foxbat A-22 on the deck of a new kind of cargo ship which features a completely flat top deck. The resulting video has been making the rounds on the internet, and was recently picked up by AOPA. From the comments posted therein, the prevailing opinion seems to be that Rademaker’s landing was an ill-conceived stunt by a low-time pilot with poor judgement. I say it ain’t necessarily so. Read more →
Sunrise Aviation recently announced an annual aerobatic scholarship in memory of Reinaldo Beyer, an outstanding aerobatic pilot, judge, and physician. I think this might be of interest given that my previous post on aviation scholarships has proven to be one of the most popular on the site. I went through a Sunrise aerobatic program after I received my private pilot certificate in 1998, and of all the flying I’ve logged in the ensuing fifteen years, nothing has done more to increase my skill level, safety, and confidence in the air. Read more →
In a world full of world records, endurance — or “time aloft” — has always fascinated me. Within that realm, there’s one particularly compelling story that even many pilots don’t know about. The technology used for this record-setting flight was off-the-shelf, unremarkable. The pilots were just ordinary guys. And the aircraft? A plain-vanilla trainer. Yet they set the bar so high that their feat may never be equaled. More than a half century later, nobody’s even come close. Read more →
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 →
The first Gulfstream jet ever manufactured made it’s first flight in 1966. It was recently retired after 44 years of continuous service with a single owner. Here’s a look at the history and future of this one-of-a-kind aircraft. Read more →
Headsets are the Rodney Dangerfield of aviation. They get no respect — at least, not until an otherwise pleasant flight is ruined by a throbbing headache brought on by the weight and clamping force exerted by a cheap, beat-up, or poor-fitting unit. I’m fortunate to fly a wide variety of aircraft on a regular basis—it’s one of the things that keeps aviation fresh and exciting—but unfortunately, it also means a big pile of equipment, especially where headsets are concerned. Wouldn’t it be great if there was just one headset that worked perfectly in every airplane? Read more →