Taking someone for their first flight is a wonderful thing to do. I’ve made many such flights. But finding those who are truly interested in taking the next step, and nurturing them along the way, is a higher calling.
Opinion
Advice to CFIs: Hush
CFIs often act as if they aren’t teaching if they aren’t talking. A more productive course of action might be to put greater emphasis on the pre-flight brief and the post-flight debrief. In between, allow the student the space to absorb the situation, analyze their own performance, and fix their own problems.
Fly the airplane
It’s a great flight. My first from the left seat in this particular airplane. There will be many more in the years to come. But I will remember on each flight, in any aircraft, no matter how much instrumentation is available or unavailable to me, keep the distractions to a minimum, enjoy the ride, and always remember to fly the airplane.
A meal is the mother of invention
Eating a meal or looking out the window using binoculars without thinking about losing directional control is the genesis of the Auto Yoke Project idea.
Five factors to consider before overhauling your engine
There are so many factors that must be taken into consideration when making a decision to overhaul an engine, and each engine must be addressed individually.
The music has stopped, we’re the last one standing
As of Aug. 30, 2021, the general aviation industry is left standing in the leaded fuel version of musical chairs.
Make dollars make sense
It takes dollars to fly. As daunting as the costs may be, those dollars aren’t locked away in a secret vault, hidden from public view, reserved for only the wealthy few. They’re flowing through our wallets and checking accounts on a regular basis. Our challenge is to get focused enough to direct a portion of those dollars to the goal we most sincerely want to achieve.
A bargain-priced helicopter you can fly
Composite-FX’s XEL is a factory-built helicopter, bargain priced at $52,000. GA pilots should have no problem flying the aircraft, which falls under the Part 103 regulations, company officials claim.
Airmail history in a tiny town
The tiny town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming, with a population just under 300, is home to a museum that features historic mementoes of the early days of airmail.