This is part two in a series of stories about flying to Alaska. Read about Bill’s trip planning, Flying the Alaska Highway and Return from Fairbanks. This past summer I crossed off a significant item on my flying bucket list — Alaska. The journey from my home airport near Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Fairbanks and back covered more than […]
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Tip: Ask the WHY questions
Scott Brackett of Kingman, Ariz., advises other pilots to get to know your IA or the best mechanic on the field. “Ask the WHY questions,” he says. “If there are engineers who fly at your airport, ask them WHY questions.”
One pilot’s Alaska trip prep plan
This is part one in a series of stories about flying to Alaska. Read about Bill’s Flying to Alaska, Flying the Alaska Highway and Return from Fairbanks. Recently a friend asked me to help him prepare for a flying trip to Alaska. I said I would, using notes taken from my own 3,500-mile journey in a Cessna 172 from […]
Tips for safe winter flying
Recently published by AOPA Insurance were several tips to help pilots get into air during the coldest time of the year: Winter. “Pilots who enjoy winter flying acknowledge that while your preflight might be a shiver-inducing experience, you will likely not face thunderstorms, one of warmer weather’s traditional hazards,” the report begins. “The cold air also provides […]
Tip: Daily drills pay off
Paul Tomascik, a CFI from Ottawa, Ontario in Canada, shares this idea: “One of the easiest and most effective ways to practice system transitions in a plane that you are unfamiliar with or one that you’re rusty in is to take a picture of the panel with your iPad and chair fly with the screen-shot […]
Video: Head-to-head comparison of inflight cameras
Our friends at The HD Pilot recently uploaded this video, explaining: “Up until now, all of our HD Pilot videos have been made with a GoPro camera. But recently, we were given the opportunity to evaluate a Drift Ghost-S HD camera and compare it with the top of the line GoPro 4 Black.”
Tip: Fly it or sell it
Herb Harney of Jenison, Michigan submits this pilot tip: “The best method of keeping your airplane and engine in top shape…fly it! At least weekly, raise the oil temperature to 185° or max that you can. Your engines will love you for it. If you don’t fly it, then sell it.”
Video: Professor develops ‘drone catcher’
When Michigan Technological University Professor Mo Rastgaar was watching World Cup soccer, he heard about snipers protecting the crowd from drones — not a good idea, he thought. “I thought, ‘If the threat is a drone, you really don’t want to shoot it down — it might contain explosives and blow up. What you want […]
Tip: Patience is a virtue
Ray Winslow of Laughlin, Nevada, notes: “If you are a hobby pilot like me and live outside very congested airspace, do not do anything about ADS-B until this all settles out. This is especially true if your plane is like mine and only losing value every day because flying is becoming a rich man’s game.I have an […]