Category: blog

Really, I should have my head examined! Why would anybody in their right mind think it’s a good idea to buy an airplane? Let's be honest, it makes zero practical sense to own an airplane unless you can sincerely point to a tangible need say, for example, for business travel. But then, the practical reality isn't the point, is it? It's really just about FLYING after all! I don’t remember where I saw it. I think I ran across it during my own personal existential why-would-a-sane-person-buy-a-plane crises but some guy was talking about freedom. Yeah, I know “freedom” is a bit of a cliche these days and probably has outstayed its welcome but yeah, that’s it. What we’re really putting our finger on is the freedom to roam around in…

  I am not a pilot but I married one.  I consider myself a novice flyer. Although aviation has been in my life now for over 12 years it has only been in the past year that our family has started flying with my husband. Considering its taken me this long to take the plunge, I want to share my experience and be frank about the whole thing. You see, it hasn’t always been easy. This is for all the people out there who are married to pilots (or seriously considering it) and find themselves in a pickle because they are not fans of flying in small airplanes. You are not alone. In fact, I frequently hear from pilots that their wives or significant others have never really enjoyed flying…

  PRICE REDUCED!!! It was a long time coming and a tough decision to make but my build partner and I have been too busy with family, work, instructing, and other life things to get any decent work done on our Velocity SE. It's a shame because this is really going to be an awesome airplane! Here are some of the details:   Overhauled Lycoming IO-360 by AeroEngines of Winchester VA. Custom panel Garmin G3X, GTN650 and remote comm Most of the airframe is complete Most of the wiring is complete Control surfaces are rigged. All parts needed to complete are accounted for Offering the project for $70,000 OBO Located in Chesterfield VA, KFCI   Contact Peter Braswell peter.braswell@gmail.com or Ken Whitaker kwhitaker@sptpanel.com with any questions.  

I had a REALLY great day of flying with a truly outstanding group of young cadets. See and read more about it all here:  

Things Were Going Pretty Smoothly... So this was the scenario as we were flying from Richmond Executive, VA (KFCI) to Sarasota FL (KSRQ) over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a relatively normal flight with what I considered higher than normal rerouting from ATC. I attributed this to the heavy traffic for the holidays. We were vectored around what seemed to be the entirety of south west Florida for what I can only surmise was the Deluxe Tour Package. I was told to expect a visual approach to runway 32 into KSRQ. This prompted me to do absolutely nothing in terms of setting up an approach. The weather was super-VFR with only a few of those typical southern Florida late afternoon popcorn clouds at 3000'. Then Things Get Hinkie... As we…

I was asked by 3rd grade teacher Heavenly Husick if I'd come to her classroom and talk about aviation and learning to fly. I thought that would be great but what I though would be if she came out with me to the airport to take a lesson. She did and here is how it went!! [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWd09d8lc_o[/embedyt]

Not what you think This is not yet another article about preparing for a flight or ensuring you have the procedures down cold for an emergency. It's a lot more pedestrian than that. It's about showing up at the airport prepared. And I'm not talking just about students! This applies to instructors as well! What did we do last week? If this is the first question from your CFI/I at the start of a lesson, warning flags should go up. If you're a student and you're wondering the what today's lesson is going to entail, you're complicit as well. As they say, it takes two to tango and the relationship between instructor and student should be a collaborative one. Both of you share in the responsibility of knowing where you…

The Pilot World is a Checklist!       Special Offer! Sign up for my mailing list and get notified of new posts and I'll EMAIL you this ForeFlight Template! It seems that the aviation world has a checklist for everything. We have IMSAFE, PAVE, GUMPS, pre-flight, post-flight, cruise, climb ... like for everything! There's a reason. It's actually been proven through studies that checklists are effective in preventing errors during procedures, so much so that the medical profession has adopted them. In an interesting study it was found that surgical staff who followed a checklist were significantly less prone to errors and mistakes. The outcomes were not just a little better, they were A LOT better. You can read more about this in the book "The Checklist Manifesto" So…

The Reluctant Flying Family Not Looking that reluctant!  First, there's the back story: I’ve been into aviation as long as I can remember but surprisingly I haven’t always been a super confident aviator. I've always had two mental demons pulling my brain in two opposite directions. Demon #1 (The ‘Good’ Demon) channels the kid that can't let an airplane fly overhead without looking up in wonder. I still look skyward to this day whenever I hear that sweet dron of an aircraft engine! Demon #2 (The ‘Bad’ Demon) is the demon can't help but notice the fallen aviators that alarmingly have way more hours and experience than me but somehow manage to screw up somehow and make a smoking hole somewhere. The reasoning being: "If it can happen to THEM,…

The Greatest Aviation Sin I fully realize that this may end up being a controversial topic. I say this because it’s deliberately been poured into my psyche and every other aviator I know that it is aviation taboo to fail a check ride. It’s a sin way worse than busting airspace or landing with the gear up! It’s seen as a failure of preparation, of cutting corners or worse yet, plain old ineptitude to get the job done. But what if failing your check ride becomes part of the strategy, at least in part? Reflection The past few weeks have given me ample time to reflect on my budding strategy around check rides and what they systemically represent both in terms of your aviation journey and of their life lessons. I’ve…