Horror at Eleven Thousand Feet?

Allow me to apologize for this article's ambivalent title, but first let me tell you the story of how I went from cruising on autopilot at 11,000 feet while eating a bag of M&Ms to treading water in the shark infested Gulf of Mexico all in a matter of 3 minutes. I am an ATP rated pilot and use my aircraft extensively for business and personal transportation. On 20 September 2012, I had planned on flying from my home in Houston, Texas to Sarasota, Florida for some meetings. When I lined…

FAA: Go away!

If you are a pilot, you have likely heard the unofficial slogan of the FAA, "We're not happy until you're not happy." Like most idioms, there is often a bit of truth to this. Any pilot who has crossed a FAA inspector knows how miserable they can make your life. Pilots have very few rights as an airman certificate is considered a 'privilege', rather than a right. However, these injustices hardly touch on the significance behind the FAA's motto. It is much more…

ATC Shouldn't Sit in the Left Seat

FAR 91.3 defines the responsibility and authority of the pilot in command as: "The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft." That is quite clear to me. Yet, every year many planes break up after flying into thunderstorms, or run out of fuel a few miles from the runway because the pilot made several poor decisions in a row. In this article, I want to primarily focus on the pilot-controller…

Why it really should be about the man and not the machine

I will start this article with a short foreword. Although it may sound as though I am being critical of airline pilots, that is not the case. I believe there is a consequential gap in the way airline pilots are currently being trained. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule and there are some great airline pilots out there. My good friend Stan Humphrey in Galveston, Texas is one of them. When he is not flying a Boeing 737, he is out doing loops and rolls in his personal Starduster bi-plane.…

Propellers Are For Boats?

Propellers are for boats .... That is all I could think of as I stood the throttles up for my first takeoff from the left seat of a jet, with an ear to ear grin on my face. Coming from piston twins, the performance was breathtaking. My demo flight on an Eclipse 500 made me realize I'd never be satisfied flying a piston again. This flight began mostly out of innate curiosity. With no serious interest of owning or flying a jet, I presumed there was also no way I could afford it. Determined to…

Love Affair with a Stearman

The primary reason I fly a jet is because I need to get where I am going quickly. Is it fun to fly? Absolutely! But what if I didn't need to go anywhere? What airplane would I fly? I, like most pilots, have a very long list. Some I have rented or 'borrowed,' and some I have owned, flown for a while, had a little fun with, then passed them on to their next 'caretaker.' I have always had a soft spot for airplanes with round engines and lots of character. I am a World War…