“Good Timing & Aeronautical Decision Making” By Michael J. “Mick” Kaufman A popular topic this time of the year is “icing.” I have written about icing several times before, as have most aviation columnists. Though I will reinforce the seriousness of icing, this column will be more centered on “Aeronautical Decision Making” (ADM), which has … Continued

“Runway Safety Through Stabilized Approaches”   “Maintain a Stabilized Approach!”  Have you heard these words before?  It’s a critical, life-saving way to approach every flight. There are several criteria, but generally, a pilot is flying a stabilized approach when he or she establishes and maintains a constant angle glidepath towards a predetermined point on the … Continued

What is the Flight Insructor’s Primary Responsibility? By Gary Reeves, ATP, Master CFI, CFII, MEI I was working with a new CFI candidate today. I asked him what the primary responsibility of the flight instructor was. He gave me a very common, and totally wrong, answer. In fact, I think this misconception is widely spread … Continued

Kent “Eagle” Ewing Captain, USN (Ret.) CFII, ATP BPT Instructor; Bronze Star; 15 Air Medals (Strike/Flight); Member, USN Golden Eagles; 1,100 Carrier Landings; 18,500+ hours BPT: Tell us about yourself, Kent. Kent: I’m Kent Ewing, I live in Virginia Beach and, I have a ’55 Baron, the tail number is 92WB. BPT: Can you give … Continued

  You are planning an IFR flight to McCall, Idaho (KMYL), which has multiple RNAV GPS instrument approach procedures. You’ve filed Boise airport (KBOI, 80 nm away) as your alternate airport because the KMYL weather looks close to minimums at your ETA. How good would the weather forecast need to be at KMYL – and … Continued

By Dr. William (Bill) Hinsley BPT Recurrent Pilot; Former Air Force Captain; 3,150+ hours I have approximately 3,150 hours. I’ve only flown three airplanes and two of those were a 1979 Cessna 172 Skyhawk and the F33A Bonanza. Most of that time is on the Bonanza. I put 2,300 hours of flying time on the … Continued