Upset recovery training is a big industry buzzword. Is it really a worthwhile investment of a pilot’s time and money, or is this just the latest safety fad? And what’s the difference between “upset recovery” and “aerobatics” anyway? Read more →
Category: Aviation
A Ball of Blue
NATS, the British ATC entity, recently published a video modeling a day’s air traffic over southern England. It’s an impressive technical achievement, but it left me feeling sad about what’s missing from the skies over there. Read more →
Who’s the Best?
You probably remember that scene from Top Gun where Tom Cruise scans a briefing room full of hot-shot pilots during his first day at the famous Naval Fighter Weapons School and wonders “who the best is”. Top Gun was a fictional tale, of course… but I know the real-life answer to Maverick’s question. I’ve met the best aviation has to offer, and their names most certainly do not occupy a plaque in the ladies room. Read more →
Liability: The Price We Pay
Liability concerns are a major expense and motivator for many industries. That’s why Superman costumes come with warnings that “the cape does not enable the wearer to fly”, Zippo cautions the user not to ignite the lighter in your face, and irons are sold with tags advising against ironing clothes while they’re being worn. But for general aviation, this sort of thing is dragging the lot of us down as surely as a cement block tossed into the murky waters of the East River. Read more →
Gulfstream’s New G500 & G600
It’s Christmas for airplane geeks: the wrapping has finally come off the shiny new multi-million dollar toys from those aerodynamic elves at Gulfstream! Here are my thoughts about today’s big reveal of the G500 and G600 business jets. Read more →
P42: The Mystery Ship
Something new is brewing on the eastern shore of Georgia, and it’s going to make a big splash in the aerospace industry soon. Thousands of people on the inside know what it is, but for years the vault door has remained firmly — and admirably — closed. It’s known only by the code name “P42”. Read more →
Drones? Meh.
Drones are the big thing in aviation right now, the growth sector of our industry if ever there was one. But despite the many practical uses for these miniature aircraft, I find it difficult to get excited about them. Am I the only one who feels that way? Read more →
Time is Money
Everyone’s heard the phrase “time is money”. Nothing proves the point better that business aviation, and a recent trip with some retail executives once again reinforced that point as we achieved what would have been impossible with any other form of transportation. Read more →
No Apologies
Aviators can be an ambitious lot. We want to go places (no pun intended), and feel like we should always be progressing toward larger airplanes, new ratings, more hours. Sometimes I’ll hear an aviator speak in apologetic terms about their flying because they “only” fly this or that. Whether the subject is their aircraft, training, or experience, there’s no cause for apologies. Quite the opposite. Don’t be fooled by the number of ratings on a pilot’s certificate, or assume they’re a better aviator because their logbook has more hours than yours. Read more →
The Ab Initio Flaw
Thus far, airline ab initio programs haven’t been a major part of the landscape here in the U.S. because our aviation sector is fairly robust. We are blessed with flying jobs which build the experience, skill, and time necessary for larger, more complex aircraft. But it might become an attractive option for airlines because the cost of learning to fly has risen dramatically over the past decade while the benefits (read: money) remain too low for too long. Airlines can cure the shortage by training pilots from zero hours… but at what cost? Read more →