Gracie, a private pilot in Montana, writes: I took a flight with a fellow pilot the other day, and he took the time to give me the flight attendant speech. It got me wondering, why the stupid seat belt speech? I mean, I know it’s the law, but — really? — who doesn’t know how to unbuckle a seat belt?
Opinion
Their future is in your hands
In a very real sense, whether these programs aimed at teenagers survive and thrive or wither and die is dependent on you and whether you do something about the problem or turn the page and go on with your day.
Two pilots, two very different paths
Mike’s story is inspiring and is the type of story that should get much more attention.
Human Factors: Not your average VFR into IMC
A mother and son die in a tragic accident caused by VFR into IMC. The NTSB investigation reveal he’s a student pilot facing pressure to complete the flight to see his father in the hospital. What can we learn from this accident?
Failing to take in the big picture
We will all make mistakes. Many in fact. But if we insist on buffaloing into any and all situations as we see fit, something bad is likely to be the result one day. And it won’t just be the risk of ever seeing Michael J. Fox in person again and having to apologize for blowing a shot in a movie. It might be something much worse and tragically irreversible. A result we will have to live with forevermore, if we survive the experience at all.
From cockpit to cancer to cockpit
Sidelined after 26 straight seasons as an ag pilot. Mike is back in the cockpit.
Where real wisdom can be found
There very well may come a day when we can’t fly anymore. There will almost certainly come a day when we shouldn’t. We might still have the ability to climb into the cockpit, fire up the engine, and launch into a clear blue sky. Having the ability, however, does not mean it’s a good idea.
Ask Paul: Is it a bad engine or bad maintenance?
A flying club’s maintenance officer wants to upgrade one of the club’s airplane engines, claiming the engine is known for having “lots of reliability issues.” Another member of the club turned to our expert to get his advice on what’s really going on with the engine.
Are the results all that surprising?
I don’t fly for a living, so my experience and stress level is different from professional pilots, but if I’m honest, I don’t really see the results of this survey as all that surprising.