Note: This analysis is of an NTSB Preliminary Accident Report. Any conclusions on the probable cause or causes of the accident will be addressed when the Safety Board’s final report is released. When it happened in June of 2019, TV news aired sensati

I won’t go over in detail how awful 2020 was for aviation, and for pilots specifically, but I will list the lowlights. We entered 2020 with the 737 Max grounded globally for eight months and the unfolding crisis only looking worse for Boeing and the

There were several long moments as I stared alternately at the giant dune adorned with a giant monument and the mangled metal of my Mooney’s baggage door support, a folding bit of metal that holds the door open for loading and unloading. Its simple,

First Sitting President To Take Flight: Franklin D. Roosevelt Date: Jan. 14, 1943 Aircraft: Boeing 314 Dixie Clipper Purpose Of Flight: Casablanca Conference Days To Reach Casablanca From U.S.: 4 Distance Of Round-Trip Flight: 17,000 miles First Offi

In the 1980s, thousands of witnesses observed an eerily silent, boomerang-shaped aircraft flying low across the Hudson Valley. Was this a genuine UFO or a cleverly executed hoax? Between 1982 and 1986, New York’s Hudson River Valley—a place home to m

The bankruptcy proceedings of ONE Aviation, the maker of the Eclipse 550 very light jet, are nearing resolution, and it doesn’t look good for the New Mexico-based company’s future. ONE Aviation had hoped to reorganize under new ownership, but that de

This new jacket from Flight Outfitters sports a style that took off in the late 1940s and ’50s and never slowed down. Originally developed for military pilots, the MA-1 bomber jacket has been an iconic look in popular culture ever since. Made of genu

In 2018, Bose debuted a fairly radical departure from its prior designs. Seeking to edge into the headset market for professional pilots, the company debuted a ProFlight headset that did away with bulky, somewhat heavy earcups and went for a lighter

Sporty’s has unveiled its latest Learn To Fly Course, and it’s everything a beginning pilot could want to get started on the path to becoming a pilot (and most likely getting addicted to this stuff). A few days later, I had the chance to get an in-de

1 So small, the FAA doesn’t consider them “aircraft” 8 Number of seats in a Van’s RV-7A 9 How they refer to your rental when the avgas is included in the cost 10 PA-12 Super _____ 11 It can affect the price of a pre-owned plane 12 What thousands of A

The Rans S-7LS is what I refer to as a poor man’s bush plane. It can carry two people in comfort at speeds approaching 90 miles per hour (notice I didn’t say knots). And, when flown solo, it can be landed practically anywhere a pilot is skilled enoug

The history of vertical flight is fascinating, largely because finding ways to go straight up in the air was historically nearly impossible and remains complicated, difficult to achieve and riskier than fixed-wing flight. So, why do people want to do

IN terms of sheer numbers, the 172 is the most-produced plane in aviation history, making it, hence, the most popular Cessna ever. Numbers don’t lie, or at least they’re not lying in this case. So, the 172 must occupy the most legendary of lofty plac

Trying to photograph something as vast and varied as the state of Alaska is, to put it lightly, a challenge. Alaska has twice the land mass of the Lower 48’s biggest state, Texas, and Number 49 is tremendously varied. It has, in fact, four distinct c

Claimed first bush flying: Canada 1919, Curtiss HS-2L flying boats at Lac-a-la-Tortue, Quebec Early popular bush planes: Curtiss JN-4 Jenny Reason: Relatively rugged, cheap and plentiful Early legendary bush pilot: Earl Frederick Crabb Other Crabb cl

At half-past midnight, we swept the power to idle and let the landing gear settle onto the 11,700-foot runway in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The landing was so-so. When on the backside of the clock, sometimes our finesse wears a little thin. Pulling the

1 ____ AN-225 Mriya, by wingspan and length the biggest plane in the world 5 Communications with the tower 8 Earlier 9 Designer of the first Cub 13 Along with 35 Across, maker of Trojans and Sabres and Valkyries 14 Runways have two 15 The “L” in SEL

Diamond Aircraft’s DA50 RG retractable-gear five-seat diesel single earned EASA certification in September, signaling a new era in the high-performance piston-engine-powered personal transportation game. As the first all-composite piston single with

After a tumultuous year, new management has officially taken the helm at Mooney, promising a new direction as well as airplane changes for the storied manufacturer. It’s not totally new. This group of airplane owners and pilots, including CEO Jonny P

Whether you’re flying in the backwoods or driving through a remote area with no cell coverage, the SPOT Gen4 is a tool you’ll be glad you have on hand in case of an emergency. The GPS messenger uses the Globalstar satellite network to track your move

We live in a country and a world that attaches big bonuses to finishing first, and that includes record-setting feats. In baseball, Babe Ruth’s name is famous. And if you’re a fan, and maybe even if you aren’t, you might know that Ruth was, in 1927,

BE-BEEP…BE-BEEP… I’m on call for St. Patrick Hospital Life Flight. BE-BEEP…BE-BEEP…BE-BEEP… It’s 2 a.m. on a Friday in February of 2004. The King Air was preflighted at the start of my shift. I will need to evaluate any flight prior to our dispatch c