I recently had an opportunity to go through a upset recovery course and while I learned a lot that I’ll be sharing, one of the the things that strikes me is how many folks don’t know the fundamental difference between a slip and a skid.    I admit that my own perfunctory knowledge was just…

I having been working hard for the last several months to get this ebook completed  (I actually like to think of it as a guide). It is almost across the finish line and I’m really happy with how it turned out thus far. Credit goes to several folks for their contributions: Eric Auxier of Cap’n Aux.com, Ron…

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…

September marked the one year anniversary of the blog and I have to say it’s been an adventure; 100,000+ page views; 650 subscribers; 267 posts; and one free ebook later, I feel like the blog has been a decent success.   There were also a few podcast interviews, guest articles (for GA News and Air Facts Journal), and a couple…

I have taken a break from my monthly series of picking out an airplane based on a specific criteria of mission-capability and price. In fact one of the last airplanes I selected was actually in the same category as the one I’m discussing here, but older and less expensive (see my Bonanza article here). As…

On the heels of the FAA’s certification of the first commercial drones, I’m compelled to take you down the rabbit hole with me regarding the implications of our skies littered with faceless, nameless machines. Like almost all powerful technology that has been developed in history, it can be used for good, and it can be…

This post is my contribution to the #blogformation series on the topic of “truth is stranger than fiction.” One of us among the group selected this topic to torment the other authors! The good news is, there is no shortage of incredible stories in aviation that defy logic and turn fiction onto its ear. This…

Recency of experience is one of the major safety challenges that we face in general aviation. Although it doesn’t seem to get a lot of direct press, it’s lurking just under the surface in many accidents.  It’s one of the less tangible causations which push investigators to dig deep for answers that almost never materialize,…

My philosophy is to try to learn from everyone I come in contact with and I highly recommend this approach to life. I had occasion to learn something really cool last weekend. It was a lesson I have experienced before, but I will likely need to relearn it over and over again. The lesson: you are…

Last week our EAA chapter hosted a monthly meeting – nothing too noteworthy about that. It was at one of the local airports, which was cool because it meant I could fly in vs. taking the dreaded four-wheeled conveyance. The noteworthy part was the guest speakers and the venue itself. You see we were at…