The Federal Aviation Administration continues to provide education to improve the safety of flight through webinars. Here are some upcoming webinars that should be of interest to any pilot: "Best Tips Tricks and Sites for Self-Briefing Plus Webinars for Feb 1-15" Topic: Tricks, Tips and Best Sites for Conducting a Safe Self Briefing. On Monday, February 15, 2021 at 16:00 Pacific Standard Time (17:00 MST, 18:00 CST, 19:00 EST, 14:00 HST, 15:00 AKST, 17:00 Arizona, 00:00 GMT) Select Number: WP01103570 Description: In this 60 minute webinar, aviation weather expert Delia will discuss th ..read more

I never expected to be a rusty pilot, let alone one who had not flown for 8 years! But, that’s where I found myself last fall.  Over the years I have flown (and owned) a number of aircraft, ranging from a Piper J3 Cub, piston twins, turboprop aircraft, old Citations and DC-3s. My wife is also a Rusty Pilot, and we decided to get active again. Off we went to the local FBO to get checked out and be able to rent some airplanes. The Checkout We decided I would get checked out first.  Upon arrival at the airport I noticed the ceiling had deteriorated. So into the office I trundled to meet ..read more

Aviation Aviation is one of the most interesting and rewarding avocations a human being can experience. Since the Wright Brothers first brought powered flight to the world airplanes have intrigued and drawn mankind to the skies. As a pilot since 1961 I have experienced so many things I wish I could share, but when I do many really do not appreciate what I am telling them. The Kopp-Etchells Effect The kopp-etechells effect has a strange name, but it creates an incredible image: The beauty of this image makes one stop and think for a few minutes. As we look through the detail of the image we ca ..read more

What Are PNR Headsets? Passive noise-reducing headphones and earphones do not offer active noise-cancelling electronics. Instead, closed-back sealed headphones achieve passive noise-reduction by physically covering the ears to help block out external noises. Passive noise-reducing earphones offer an in-ear design that forms an acoustic seal that helps to block background noise and allow for increased fidelity at lower volume levels. The best passive noise-canceling headphones, however, are circum-aural types that are specially constructed to maximize noise-filtering properties. That means the ..read more

Headset Adapters It seems as though every time we want to use our aviation headsets in a different aircraft we need different plugs. Or we need to use our cell phone in our airplane with our headset but we don't have the right plug setup. Perhaps we need to hook up our GoPro camera to our headset. We get a gift: the new Flight Simulator but we need a headset to work with our PC and we can't plug our headset in. Who wants to purchase yet another headset? No matter the problem we have the solution! The Solution? We have an extensive library of headset adapters for almost any need you might encou ..read more

Wake Turbulence How many of us think wake turbulence is a problem only behind a large commercial aircraft? Well, you need to know that you are wrong! On September 9, 2012 a Robin DR400 with one pilot and three passengers crashed on takeoff due to wake turbulence behind an Antonov AN-2 aircraft which had departed just 39 seconds before the DR400. In this dramatic footage the accident is caught on video. The video has been edited to explain what happened and why - a lesson for all of us. DR400 Wake Turbulence Accident Video Antonov AN-2 Aircraft The Antonov AN-2 is a Soviet manufactured single ..read more

Emergencies Happen - Will You Be Prepared? We all love to fly our airplanes, and for most of us nothing will ever happen. But what if something did happen and you needed to apply first aid until the first responders could arrive? Will you be ready? Fortunately during my flying career I have never had anything happen that required immediate first aid, and as best I can recall very few of the aircraft I flew even had anything for emergency first aid. What Is A Good Solution? Well, on our website we sell some products that would be of interest and use to pilots, and one of the things we offer&nbs ..read more

American Optical AO Eyewear Amereican Optical has a storied history reaching all the way back to 1833. That is when it's founder, William Beecher, began making eyewear out of his jewelery store in Southbridge, MA. The early glasses frames came from England and from time to time needed repair. They brought them to local jewelers to repair, and that is when Beecher decided that he could make the best eyewear in the world. This is interesting, of course, but how does it relate to aviation? Aviator Sunglasses In 1903 the first flying machine flew at Kitty Hawk, NC launching the race to build bett ..read more

Bert Botta Bert Botta is an ex TWA/NetJets captain who is starting a fascinating podcast called the "Everyday Heros" podcast. Bert contacted me via email and here is what he said: "Hi John I'm asking for your support in launching my Everyday Heroes podcast series. My podcasts are more than random stories; they are messages of hope, education, entertainment, connection, and community for listeners, especially for those of us in the aviation community. I have already interviewed some of you and have turned those interviews into podcasts. I will be asking more of you to do the same as the ..read more

Disinfecting Aircraft Requires Proper Substances and Care These days, all we hear about is getting the face mask on and disinfecting wherever and whenever possible.  Keeping your aircraft or rental aircraft disinfected can mean introducing chemicals to the aircrafts interior that may be doing more bad than good. As an industry leader in education, AOPA has provided a link to some additional information on the topic. Please read David Tulis’ top story at: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/august/20/improper-disinfectant-appears-to-damage-two-skyhawks As pilots and mechanics ..read more