Max Trescott Aviation Trends Aloft

General Aviation Heroes Part II – Flight Instructors

Part I of this series featured an actual person—Clyde Cessna. In Part II, we honor a group of people: Flight Instructors. Except for the early aviation pioneers who had to teach themselves how to fly, nearly every pilot flying is indebted to one or more of their flight instructors. If you have a true passion for aviation, then you should consider becoming one too. We’ll discuss how to become a CFI in a moment.

Captain Sullenberger's CFI

All great pilots recognize the role played by their CFI. In Air & Space magazine Captain Sully Sullenberger talks about...

General Aviation Heroes Part I – Clyde Cessna

Every day this week, I’ll be posting a story on General Aviation Heroes. When you think of aviation heroes, Sully Sullenberger, who successfully ditched US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River following multiple bird strikes, comes immediately to mind. Yet our focus this week is on General Aviation, not Commercial Aviation. The articles are not yet complete, so please suggest one or more candidates for inclusion in the series. Simply click on Comments at the bottom of this article or send me an email.

Last year, I wrote about Clancy Prevost, a CFI and American Hero who helped identify Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called “20th hijacker” who...

FAA Proposing To Keep Bird Strike Data Secret

Ever since Sully Sullenberger successfully ditched US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River following bird strikes that killed both engines, public awareness and interest in bird strikes has been on the rise. The FAA has a database of 100,000 bird strikes reported since 1990 and it presumably sheds some light on a problem which, according to Bird Strike Committee USA, has led to over 200 deaths--of people, not birds--since 1988.

But in what amounts to a public relations gaffe, the FAA has...

More Passengers Than Seat Belts in Montana Crash—What That Tells Us

As the facts emerge over the crash of a Pilatus PC 12 with 14 people aboard in Butte, Montana, one thing is clear: there were more passengers aboard than there were seats or seat belts. What is not clear, and won’t be for many months, is exactly what caused the crash. However, the simple fact that there were more people on board than legally allowed may give some insight into the pilot and offer an important lesson for all pilots.

Initial speculation around the crash was that the Pilatus...

Federal Express MD-11 Crash at Tokyo's Narita Airport

Dramatic video shows the landing that led to the fiery crash of a Fed Ex MD-11 cargo jet a few hours ago at Tokyo's Narita Airport. The video shows what appears to be a hard, bounced landing. Shortly after the bounce, the nose of the aircraft appears lower than the tail as the aircraft contacts the runway a second time. Moments later, huge flames erupt destroying the aircraft. Pilot Kevin Kyle Mosley and copilot Anthony Stephen Pino were killed.

Winds were reportedly high at the time, so it's hard to know for sure whether...

Be True to Your School—Keep General Aviation Growing

[Coming up in 1 week: Our series on General Aviation Heros. Enter your email address to receive the series]
A famous Beach Boys song says to “Be true to your school now/ And let your colors fly.” One pilot friend is doing that—and he’s helping to keep General Aviation alive at the same time. If you’ve ever felt that perhaps now is the time for you to do something to give back to general aviation, here’s the perfect way for any pilot, anywhere to get involved. Please post a comment and let me and others know how you’ve gotten involved—or plan to get involved—to help keep General Aviation healthy and growing.

Ron Carmichael, a good friend and active pilot just sent me photos and details of the first high school field trip...

Engine Failure Over the Mountains and Lessons Learned

When I wrote Max Trescott’s G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook, I couldn’t have imagined that it would connect me with pilots around the world, some of whom have come to California to fly with me and others for whom I’ve traveled to fly with them at their home airport. For example, this week I’m flying with a pilot from the U.K. and am teaching him the instrument rating in a Cessna 208B Caravan—more on that soon.

This week I also got the final email in a series of exchanges with another European pilot who came to the U.S. to fly with me last summer. He went on to buy a G1000-equipped aircraft and had an engine failure in that aircraft a month ago. With his permission, I’m publishing most of our email exchange because I think it contains important lessons for all pilots.

For this particular flight, the owner had leased...

The State of General Aviation

Over the last 2 days, I’ve been in touch with a number of flight school owners and other people in GA related businesses. The overall picture is mixed. Here are some snippets of what I’m hearing.

Some flight schools are down as much as 40% over the last 2 years and a few have gone out of business. Others are managing to keep sales relatively constant. Some of this is a function of local market conditions. But a key factor seems to be...

“A Pilots Story” Film Captures the Passion of Flying

Great films are rare. Great flying movies that evoke the passion of flying are even rarer. I’m happy to say that A Pilot’s Story looks like it will be one of those rare films that move us as pilots and reconnect us with the passion that permanently bonds us to aviation. Best of all, it may inspire a new generation of pilots to enter the fray. One couldn’t ask for more.

You won't see the film...

Navy Jet Crash Has Important Lessons for All Pilots

Audio tapes of the conversation with the pilot of the Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood in December killing 4 people were released today. At the same time, it was announced that 13 Marine Corps personnel were being disciplined for errors in the incident. While typically general aviation pilots don’t look to the military for insight into safe piloting skills, this accident offers several important lessons that are directly applicable to all pilots.

The cockpit conversation reveals that...