Landings are something we do often.  If you have taken off, you are going to have to land somewhere.  The question is how to do it in the safest and most efficient manner.  A lot depends on what you are flying, how much experience you have and of course, the weather.  Landing a J-3 Cub is a lot different than a high speed single like a Bonanza.   Factors to consider are of ..read more

It's late in the month and I hate not to have written a blog. Reflecting on some of my past "challenging" flights brings back a flight from Albermarle, NC back to Rock Hill, SC. about a 60 mile flight. For a short while in 2000, I commuted to work at the hospital in Stanley County and back each evening to Charlotte and my hangar in Rock Hill SC. Normally, it should take about 25 minutes or so in ..read more

If you haven't yet had a "gear up" you are lucky, or maybe just well trained and careful. Although I have never had a gear up landing, I almost did.  Years back when I was doing some instrument flight training with an instructor in the right seat, I was on short final ready to touch down. The instructor said "have you forgotten something?"  I had not put the gear down.  That was a close call ..read more

I'm smiling as I look back at my first log book.  The first entry is on November 4, 1961.  Yes, I know that's going back some 56 years, that puts me at 21 year old.  I was taking my first flight lesson in a military Pa-18 at Felker Army Air Base located at Fort Eustis,Va. just west of Newport News. Back then I did a total of only 15 hours of flight time.  I just didn't feel comfortable flying ..read more

Over the past five to six years, I have been writing about some of my flight experiences of the past 40 or so years.  I have used this blog as the recording medium. The goal of this writing is to share these flight experiences in an effort to help fellow pilots avoid senseless and possibly fatal flight accidents. Let me offer an example of how not to do it.  Going back to 1967 in Syracuse, NY ..read more

                                                                                                                        Another Holiday has successfully come and gone, our tree is still up. Looking forward to a pleasant and relatively quiet New Year. I have been doing some reflecting on things ..read more

Reading an article in the local Charlotte paper on doing away with required flight physicals taught me a lesson. Don’t believe everything you read, and do check the facts whenever possible. The Charlotte article stated that Senator Inhofe’s PBR2 would essentially do away with a required medical exam for Class 3  (private) pilots. Instead pilots would just write a note in their log every four ..read more

With winter on the horizon, its time to start thinking of things like ice, snow and sleet. Three things that can cause real danger to the casual pilot, and are best avoided. I had flown in to Monroe airport (EQY), just east of Charlotte, to be together with my wife for a weekend. As there was no hangar space available, I had to park the plane, a Cessna 340, next to a hangar outside in the ..read more

It seems that I have written about the type accidents that are occurring over and over again. Things like forgetting to lower the gear, or crashing alongside or off the runway in the weeds because of inattention. No one wants to read about them again. And, I don’t feel like dealing with them now either. So I am just going to relate some flight adventures of my own. Yes, maybe I will repeat myself ..read more

A phrase you must have heard a thousand times: “there is nothing new under the sun” applies to bad landings and resultant sequelae. In the latest FAA accident happenings 5 out of 5 accidents involve landings and the day before 7 out of 17. Typical errors such as: hard landing, busted left main wheel, struck prop etc. As I have dealt with these before, I don’t want to belabor it now. But If I had ..read more