My First Flight My first time to slip the surly bonds of earth occurred at Lawton, Oklahoma. I was 14 years old. The vehicle, a Piper Arrow IV. The pilot, Jim Huddleston. In my early teens I made the decision that I would be a pilot. The only nuance was I had never flow in…
As a contributor for Air Facts Journal I penned an article for them on mentorship as it relates to aviation. You can find it here: http://airfactsjournal.com/2012/11/aviation-mentorship Hopefully you will find it useful, whether you are a potential or current mentor or a mentoree. If you have experience or ideas in this area, I’d love to hear…
Handling an Aircraft Emergency Few of us really know how we’ll react in a true emergency. Thankfully, they are extremely rare in our modern GA airplanes. But will you be prepared when that day comes? The day that something goes terribly wrong and it’s completely up to you to save yourself and your passengers. Having…
If you don’t already know about the FAA’s free publication that comes out 6 times a year, you owe it to yourself to check it out. FAA Safety Briefing is a very well done full-color glossy periodical that covers a wide variety of topics. The Nov/Dec edition’s theme is on Small Airplane, Big World, so the…
My Last Piston Twin Trip My last paying trip in a piston twin was emotional, but not for the reasons you might think. First I should quantify, at the time I didn’t realize this was to be my last round trip. I was flying for a great little FBO in my home town. We did…
We now have a dedicated Facebook page for iflyblog.com Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/iFLYblog This will allow me to provide some additional functionality for folks who like to use social media. Let us know what you think by commenting below or posted on our Facebook page!
How To Fly a Taildragger: 201 We pick up where we left off in 101 and venture into more of the nuances of conventional gear aircraft. If you haven’t read How To Fly a Taildragger: 101 go there first. One area not mentioned in 101 was how gyroscope precession, spiraling slipstream, p-factor and torque effect a…
How To Fly a Taildragger: 101 I have taught dozens of pilots how to fly taildraggers and in this article, I summarize how it’s done. Note: This information should not be used in lieu of actual flight instruction. Also the terms taildraggers, tail wheel and conventional gear are all synonymous. Pontification: Everyone should learn to…
Smoke in the Cockpit If there is one thing that strikes fear in the hearts of any pilot, it’s an inflight fire. Talk to pilots and ask what risk do they worry about the most and they will almost universally tell you, fire and structural failure (some say mid-air, but that is the cause of…
NAIA Days: My Flight School Experience Dateline: 1991 With my private license in my pocket I set out to obtain my ratings at the tender age of 20. The plan was to leave my hometown and go to a big school to get all the ratings I would need to start flying for a living…