Challenging Crosswind Conditions We recently had ‘Santa Ana’ conditions here in SoCal. What causes this? Typically, it’s due to a high-pressure system over Utah or Nevada, with its clockwise flow, which funnels hot dry air southwesterly through the mountains surrounding the LA basin. When that happens, there is a strong northeasterly flow in parts of […]
Guinness World Record Zara Rutherford, only 19, recently completed her ‘RTW’ (‘round the world) flight, with many stops, in Wevelgem, Belgium, on Thursday, January 20, 2022. She was flying SOLO and has set a Guinness World Record in the process!! Congratulations, Zara!! She flew a Shark Ultra-Light, a small single engine aircraft built by Shark.aeros.r.o., […]
As is reported in the Safety Trends story in the December 2021 issue of Plane & Pilot Magazine, looking back, what can be learned from the accident record? The good news, GA flying is getting safer. Is there any bad news? Well, the accident rate has not changed or improved much lately. Is that bad? […]
Do you have Air Traffic Control Mike Fright? Are you unsure about what to say, or how to talk to ATC? Want to get over Air Traffic Control Mike Fright? You are not alone. Many are unsure of what to say. As an experienced CFI (Certified Flight Instructor), I’ve seen this with students and heard […]
How long since you’ve done any cross-country flight planning? Maybe your flying is local in nature, less than 50 miles from your home airport for the $100 burger, so it’s been a while. Well, there are common problems that some pilots encounter with cross-country flight planning, among them, basically; not understanding weather well enough; inadequate […]
I recently had the experience of working on my Cessna 150. It was fun to get out my wrenches and do some airplane maintenance on this vintage airplane. Let me tell you how this happened. About two weeks ago, I had flown my Cessna 150 to nearby Torrance Airport, KTOA, on Sunday, June 27, for […]
After a yummy breakfast at the Airport Café, with my training Captain and Instructor, Bob, and his brother Tim, both of whom are retired airline captains and are now DC-3 pilots, flying Flabob Express, we went out and inspected the airplane. We did a ‘preflight’ or ‘walkaround’ as we call it. They actually kidded me […]
Do you know the difference? This is area of confusion among some pilots. The rules, that is, the Federal Aviation Regulations, aka the ‘F-A-Rs’ or ‘regs’, for short, spell out the many requirements that we follow, as pilots, mechanics, and air traffic controllers, to operate an aircraft safely, in the National Airspace System (NAS), and […]
Someone asked this recently on a FB page for student pilots; what’s the difference between “The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge”, or PHAK, and “The Airplane Flying Handbook”, or AFH? It’s a good question. Do you know? These books are complimentary. Each alone is not sufficient. Generally speaking, the PHAK is ‘the big picture’. It […]
On Saturday, April 24, 2021, on AOPA Live, it was reported that the FAA recently issued an Advisory Circular, AC 91-92, that addresses the “Pilot’s Guide to a Preflight Briefing’. With the widespread use of Smartphone’s, devices and online briefings, many pilots now ‘self-brief’. The FAA is addressing this, and this AC provides guidance to […]