All this talk about proficiency: we never seem to give it a rest, do we? For example, let's…
In July 2001, 13-year old Cody Clawson was hiking with his Boy Scout troop in Yellowstone National Park,…
I don't know if it was Chuck Yeager, Tom Wolfe, or anyone else in particular that should earn…
LIFE CAN BE HARD AS A PILOT. Take Bob for example -- he had a problem. It was…
From the North Pole, one can only go southward. Not being the trusting type, rather than following the…
My previous series of articles was written to help pilots stay "ahead" of the airplane, but if you…
The absolutely and undeniably first woman pilot in the whole world was...
I'm really not trying to be an old-fogey about this, but I guess I can't help myself. My…
Moving up to larger, more capable, aircraft can be intimidating, but airplanes are airplanes and some simple truths…
Two pilots walk into the waiting room of an Aviation Medical Examiner to renew the medical certificates that…
Learning to fly is something very few people ever do, and we all take pride in our own…
Pilots have enough problems in the dynamic flight environment without making things worse on themselves. But sometimes pilots…
After an aircraft experiencing an emergency, what four types of aircraft or situations come next, on the pecking…
While en route at 4000 feet, ATC issues you the following advisory: "Flock of small birds, twelve o'clock,…
Pilots are confronted with an inflow of information (radio communications, spotting other traffic, flight and engine instruments, etc.)…
An airplane with leaky fuel caps is sitting out in the rain. How long might it take each…
Of the following early airmail pilots, who doesn't belong? Charles Lindbergh, Elrey Jeppesen, Leonard Brooke Hyde-Pearson, or George…
Where ever you are - be there! This is a direct quote from Mr. Joel Smith who is…
Just as the greater relative proportion of one substance introduced into another can improve the effectiveness of a…
In-Flight! was a weeklong summer workshop designed to show minority high school students what it was like to…
Joe Marsh was the airport manager at Sedalia, Missouri, when I first began giving flight instruction 15 years…
There are many planes flying around these days and as, a general rule, the later the model, the…
Who was the first person to propose the use of aircraft in the national interest?
The high school students in the In-Flight! program spent a week on a university campus and learned about…
Birds, like pilots, don't always have a tailwind. As a matter of fact, they have the same problems…
I spent last week with 40 minority students who will be high school juniors and seniors in the…
There is perhaps no more appropriate application for the term "grass roots" than when applied operating an airplane…
What's the safest airline in the world?
I always was interested in flying. From the early days of my childhood, I'd watch on TV shows…
What propeller-driven aircraft had a fuselage that was nearly as tall as it was long?
As far as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is concerned, there are only two ways for a civilian…
Ramp checks, I am told, are just another way the Federal Aviation Administration enforces safety. It is not,…
When traveling at the speed of sound at sea level (assuming we use a "standard" atmosphere at 15…
With aircraft, there's usually very little in the way of chrome ornamentation. Unlike the Cadillacs and Fords of…
My MD-88 flight from Atlanta rocketed down final approach at the Class C primary airport in Florida this…
The accessory plug is an often-overlooked part of your airplane. In most airplanes, this was called the "cigar"…
You're descending at a relatively high speed in calm air, and since there was no forecast for nor…
I love writing about my friend Dick, since his thousands of hours of flying have been so fraught…
For what clever but ill-fated design was General George Armstrong Custer's great grand-nephew best known?
Just like the weather, about which everybody jokes but against which no one ever takes action, there is…
Pilots should practice cross country planning -- even on days when it does not look like a flight…
What IFR aircraft under ATC guidance in IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) may suddenly find that their services have…
An airplane is a terrible classroom. It's noisy. It's cramped. It's hot -- or it's cold. It can…
The first aerial combat between two aircraft took place...
Students who learn to fly at controlled airports never know any different, but students who learn at an…
The first person to use an airplane for transportation on a regular basis (in connection with a non-aviation…
Flying away from the friendly confines of your home airport offers another great flying challenge. It also offers…
If you hear a repeating "dit-dah-dah-dit" (the letter "P" in Morse code) on 121.5 MHz, what kind of…