Mistakes Happen How the FAA’s Compliance Program Promotes Accountability for All Pilots By Jeffrey Smith, FAA Flight Standards Safety and Compliance Team     “Mistakes happen.” Certainly not a profound statement and there are plenty of affirmations that can be found about mistakes, how to recover from them, and how to learn from them. … Continued

VFR Into IMC Conditions: Altitude is Your Friend! by Michael J. “Mick” Kaufman   I recently received a text message from a friend, who was looking to purchase a PA32. He found an airplane at in Controller Aircraft Sales that he wanted me to look at. While I was looking in the publication, I noticed … Continued

The Dreaded Steep Turn Yes, you can fly and enjoy steep turns with precision!  By Hank Canterbury Performing a “steep turn” does have a place in a pilot’s “bag of tricks.” Being able to accurately perform steep turns is a good indication of a pilot’s proficiency, knowledge, situational awareness and control smoothness. Done properly, steep … Continued

      1. What is the obstacle clearance a pilot must maintain within 4 nm of mountainous terrain on an IFR flight that is cleared to operate VFR on top? A. 3,000’ AGL within any obstacles within 5 nm B. 2,000’ AGL within any obstacle within 4 nm C. 4,000’ AGL within any obstacle … Continued

No Air Up There Hypoxia Awareness   By Jennifer Caron, FAA Safety Briefing Magazine Copy Editor Mid-flight is not the time to learn about hypoxia, the medical term for oxygen deficiency. It doesn’t give you much warning, and if you don’t detect it early enough, it can be a real killer. Some pilots believe that … Continued

Introduction to Safety Risk Management     Risk management is a formalized way of dealing with hazards. It is a logical process of evaluation where you weigh the potential costs of a risk against the potential benefits you might receive, if you allowed that risk to stand uncontrolled. In order to better understand risk management, … Continued

The Latest Disease for General Aviation By Gene Benson, Pilot & Aviation Educator Much like certain infectious diseases that ebb and flow over time, Loss of Directional Control, (LODC), has experienced a large outbreak in our pilot community.  There have been efforts to contain it, reduce its spread or eradicate it, but there is no … Continued

The Birth of Button-ology By Michael J. “Mick” Kaufman In thinking back to the days of rotating a knob to change a frequency and rotating the azimuth on a VOR indicator, it really was simple. All VORs were the same regardless of the manufacturer, whether it was King, Narco, Collins or Bendix. Button-ology came upon … Continued

“Every time I come here, I learn things.” Tom Tubbs Baron N3715C   “I’ve enjoyed the relationships with other pilots and particularly, the instructors They’re just ‘top shelf’ – and they have the experience. I don’t have to worry about trying to shop around to try and find some other type of training. I would … Continued

Mind Your Meds! By Dr. Susan Northrup, FAA Federal Air Surgeon Pilots often ask which medications are permissible for flight and where they can find this information. Let’s check out some of the top prescription medications in the United States (according to GoodRx.com) and review how we consider them for medical certification. Here’s a link to … Continued