This is guest post from professional pilot and author, Byron Edgington.  He is the author of The Sky Behind Me and you are sure to enjoy this piece.    PART 1:   Ft. Wolters Texas, Army Helicopter Flight School 1969.   Once my Snowbird month was over it was time to head to the flight line where…

Com-pe-tent adjective 1. having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully.   Con-fi-dent adjective 2. feeling or showing confidence in oneself; self-assured.   In our world as pilots, competence is seemingly a Yes or No answer. You are or you aren’t, right? Sort of.    Who determines your level of competence? If you say…

Luckily I have had the opportunity to fly an Extra a few times – from the passenger seat [PREVIOUS POST HERE]. I felt compelled to offer my thoughts on what might be one of the coolest machines I have ever handled. Extras are built at the Dinslaken Airfield in Germany. It is a certified, factory-built, thoroughbred…

Icarus was so enchanted by flight that he failed to heed his father’s warnings and crashed into the sea. He became hypnotized; drunken by his senses. He flew too close to the sun and melted his wings.   How many of us have found ourselves in this state? So enthused by the gift of flight…

Would you believe me if I stated I have a cure for the declining pilot population? And would you also believe me if I said YOU have the cure too?    It’s true. We have the power to manage this problem right now. It won’t take cheaper fuel, less government regulations, cheaper airplanes, more airports,…

We didn’t really go anywhere when I was growing up, in fact my first airline flight was in my 20s well after I was already out on my own and flying professionally. It was in the back of a 737 from Cody, WY to Oklahoma City after delivering a Bellanca Super Viking to a former…

I am not a doctor or a scientist, but in doing some research for another project I learned some interesting things about the brain that translates to this grand endeavor we call flying. The Cerebral Cortex, the largest area of the brain, is where most thinking functions occur. The cortex consists of four lobes: – The Frontal Lobe…

There are some interesting phenomena that occur when pilots of similar types of aircraft coalesce into a group. Some of it is really good and some of it is not so good. But let’s examine an often taboo subject and see where it leads us.   I’ll use the term type club because that’s how…

In the spirit of the Holidays this month’s Blogging in Formation (#blogformation) series will cover What We Want Under our Christmas Tree. Based on the picture above, you might get the impression I want to give up our airplanes for flying saucers, not really.   What I do want is a revolutionary, game-changing, paradigm-shifting, alternative to…

Are we letting the computers fly too much? I believe so, I know many of my blogging colleagues would also agree.  We seem to be going backward – better technology, but crappier pilots. I have noticed that training vendors for professional pilots tend to assume that you know how to fly the airplane and they…