Staying in Neutral

As an educator I truly believe that mistakes are proof of learning. Unfortunately in aviation, mistakes can be costly, and that is why practical exams are so demanding, and have exacting standards. The short field landing is one, if you land short of your spot, you fail, and I know this the hard way. My …

1 hour flight in 5 minutes and 5 songs KVUO – W27 – KVUO

Saturday December 5 , 2020 1:30 pm The COVID-19 stay at home as been hard, especially for those, like me, who have worked hard to isolate for loved ones at home. Because of that, I have not been able to flight instruct or fly with others. One of my joys is to take friends flying. …

Thunderbolt! – Best Flying Movie Ever

I don’t have the time to go into the history of this amazing documentary, nor do I have the time to convince others why this should be mandatory viewing for all high school students and teachers when studying WWII. Like many others who was enamored with the myth of the P-51 Mustang, promoted by the …

#3 SEE and AVOID

CFR 91.113 states that vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft. Most flights occur under Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) and fall under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) where we can look out and see the sights, including other aircraft. This can’t be stressed enough – …

ADS-B: Are you ready?

The deadline for ADS-B is December 31,  2019. Are you ready? What’s your answer? “I’ve already put in ADS-B” or “My aircraft doesn’t have an electrical system so I don’t need it” or “I don’t fly where a transponder is needed” or “I’m going to wait until the very last possible minute”. Let me rephrase …

So You Want to Become a Pilot?

Congratulations on wanting to be a pilot! Before you begin your flight training you need to be very aware of one sobering fact: only two out of ten student pilots will earn their private pilot license. During the heyday of general aviation, 1950’s – 1960’s, there were about two million certified pilots in the United …