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Jan 1, 2025 | 
aopa.org | LeRoy Cook
Sure enough, a glance at the mid-field windsock showed a light breeze blowing from about 20 degrees left of the runway numbers. No beginner, she had accumulated a dozen or more solo hours; I expected her to react appropriately, at the proper time. Alas, when the nose came up to arrest the descent, the crab angle remained. Through the few seconds of level deceleration, no correction was made, and the wheels were allowed to touch, misaligned, and a good five knots early as well.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
One of the greatest quandaries facing flight school operators is the acquisition of replacement aircraft. The aging fleet flown by many operators is steadily racking up hours, imposing more and more maintenance burdens on 50-year-old airframes while production of new airplanes has slowed to a trickle, and the cost of the few available is high.
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Nov 2, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
Every once in a while, some nonflyer will casually say to me, “Ever been afraid while you're up there flying?”One supposes they are looking for some juicy description of a desperate situation fraught with daunting danger, culminating in a near-escape from certain death.
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Oct 6, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
There may not be physical barriers in place that limit access to flight training, but there are other types of obstacles that make it different from other activities. As when doing anything completely new, you’ll have to work your way through a strange, unfamiliar world. Learning to fly requires the acquisition of physical skills as well as the absorption of reams of newfound knowledge, theories, and terms unique to flight. All of those who’ve gone before have faced the same challenges.
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Oct 2, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
he intention of most flight training is to demonstrate and practice maneuvers and procedures in carefully controlled conditions, while trainees gain an ability to perform competently on their own. To do this, the instructor must allow some experimentation and failure, so the results of inadequate performance are made clear, then guide the learner toward better outcomes.
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Sep 30, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
Eventually, the temptation is too much to resist, and your lifelong desire to have a personal set of wings can only be satisfied by taking the plunge into aircraft ownership. There are potentials for disappointment and dissatisfaction when entering into aeronautical matrimony, however. You will learn that what you want and what you need are often in diametric opposition. And tying up all the loose ends of an acquisition can be frustrating. Fear not. There is help for the unwary.
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Sep 27, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
Hopefully, you will have a long flying career without ever encountering the sudden loss of your one-and-only powerplant. If not, there are steps you can take that will maximize your chances of success when faced with a forced landing. First, you need to know your airplane. Have the best-glide speed committed to memory, usually found at the beginning of the POH’s emergency-procedures section, so you can pitch and trim to establish it, maximizing time in the air as well as glide performance.
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Sep 14, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
Acquiring flying time is not the same as accumulating flight experience. Simple repetition of acts of aviation teaches us very little about the art of flying. It’s only when we meet varied and challenging conditions that we acquire a sense of broader scope, which brings us true understanding. You can have 500 hours in your logbook and merely have one hour of experience repeated 500 times.
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Sep 1, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
I was pounding along in the ancient Aeronca, clinging to the four-lane highway under my left elbow while rain and low scudding clouds enveloped me. Emergency IFR was out of the question, given the sparse panel in front of me, so my only option was executing “helicopter VFR” by maintaining ground contact and forward visibility with reduced airspeed.
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Aug 22, 2024 | 
planeandpilotmag.com | LeRoy Cook
The fog comeson little cat feet. It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on. Carl SandburgThe meteorological condition called fog, properly termed when a cloud sits in contact with the ground, remains one of the confounding considerations aviators must deal with. Departing into fog gives no chance to prepare for the sudden entry to blind flying, and it's a one-way trip; there's no coming back.
