In the end, it doesn’t matter if you have 60 hours or 2,500 hours. It doesn’t matter if you fly in blue skies or dark skies. What matters is that you know your capabilities and always remember that a pilot’s license is a license to learn. That is what yields a safer pilot.
flying
Donald Shimoda is my co-pilot
In the mid-1980s I was a professional musician. I lived in in the Greenwich Village section of New York City with my best friend and musical collaborator, Michael Mazzarella. Our apartment sat on Bleecker Street, just around the corner from MacDougal. We walked on sidewalks Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Paul Simon had walked. We […]
The airport bums of Range Regional Airport
Terry Hocking recently contributed an article to HometownFocus.us about his favorite day of the week: Wednesday. That’s when the airport bums gather at Range Regional Airport (KHIB) in Hibbing, Minn., for hangar flying and so much more. “As one of the youngsters to frequent these caffeine-induced didactic (albeit informal) forums, I always walk away with […]
Pilot, humble thyself
As you might imagine of a guy who writes for an aviation publication with the reputation enjoyed by General Aviation News, I’ve been flying for quite a while. You might also get the impression I pretty much know what I’m doing. That’s not necessarily true. Sure, I can get an airplane into the air and […]
From hooves to helicopters
By Alexa Paprosky. The only thing I had ever piloted before my intro flight had four legs, a mane and a tail. I was type rated in thoroughbreds and had only soloed airframes with hooves and brains. I walked into the hangar expecting to see a Clydesdale of a machine, but instead was faced with […]
Fully manufactured LSA and IFR
ASTM’s F37 committee is composed of people with technical knowledge who achieved a challenging task: Start with a blank sheet of paper and create aircraft standards for the Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) sector. That this group did so in just a few years on the leanest of budgets is a credit to their dedication. These volunteers from […]
I might not be able to walk, but I can fly
For North Carolina pilot Justin Falls, flying an airplane represents a freedom denied him on the ground. Falls, 28, overcame a devastating spinal cord injury as a student and has rebuilt his life to include completing college, earning a pharmacy degree and, most recently, passing his sport pilot check ride. Falls, who suffered a broken […]
Celebrating the Bonanza
It’s an iconic airplane that is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. About 17,500 Bonanzas have been produced over the past seven decades, with production still continuing, but at a much lower rate. In 2016, 25 Bonanzas were produced by Textron Aviation, which bought the Beechcraft brand in 2014. The Bonanza is also a plane […]
The Doctor Killer
While the Beechcraft Bonanza has a loyal following, it also has an infamous moniker: The Doctor Killer. It gained that name decades ago following a spate of high-profile crashes, with many of the pilot doctors. In fact, that spate of accidents was part of the reason for the creation of the Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program […]