I attempted to takeoff from the wrong runway at Charles M Schulz Sonoma County Airport (KSTS), at a known hot spot (Taxiway Hotel at Runway 20). This is a stupid mistake that “I would never make,” nonetheless, even after I made the mistake, I was not convinced that it happened, so much did I believe that I had lined up correctly.
Picture of the Day: A family at play
Dale Weir in his Cessna 170B for a flight around the neighborhood. At the same time, Dale’s son Ryan Weir happened to be flying his Cessna 180, giving an out-of-town guest a scenic tour of the neighborhood. Ryan’s passenger in the back seat, Shannon Beaty, visiting from Anchorage, Alaska, captured Dale’s 170B over the Enumclaw Plateau.
Top 10 best selling business jets of 2021
2021 was a much better year for business jet sales than 2020, with Gulfstream and Cirrus taking the top spots in a list of the best-selling bizjets.
Video: Cessna 205 catastrophic engine failure
A new video on YouTube documents a catastrophic engine failure in a Cessna 205 while flying on an IFR flight plan from S36 (Seattle) to KMYV (Sacramento, California).
FAA adds weather reporting stations across Alaska
The FAA has started installing eight new Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) across Alaska to provide weather conditions to pilots before they take to the skies.
Blue Line Aviation opens new facility at KJNX
The new facility at Johnston Regional Airport (KJNX) in Smithfield, North Carolina, features a new DA40/DA42 convertible Diamond simulator.
Pilot seriously injured when plane crashes due to water and contaminates in the fuel
The partial loss of engine power due to water and contaminants in the fuel, due to the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection, and the pilot’s decision to conduct a steep turn at low altitude to return to the runway rather than land straight ahead, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Picture of the Day: A Legend flying into the sunset
Kevin Quinn submitted this photo and note: “William Legend flying up and over and into the sunset during the 2021 High Sierra Fly-In.”
It’s time to talk about pilots and depression
One area of concern that pilots of all ages shy away from discussing openly is mental health. Which is a shame because mental health is a critical component of overall health. Unfortunately, the FAA has historically been less than charitable toward flight crew members who utter the word “depression” in the wrong company, or admit to having issues with the real speed bumps found along the road of life.