Every year Bombardier Aircraft, parent company of Canadair and Learjet, holds a three-day conference in Wichita called the Bombardier Safety Standdown. The “BSS” began 21 years ago as an in-house meeting of Learjet factory demonstration and flight test pilots, and has grown into an international by-invitation event capped at about 500 attendees annually. Although the Read More
Wake turbulence can be dangerous at any altitude or phase of flight. Know how to visualize its location – and what to do if you find yourself in an upset. There’s an Alert Area over my home airport on the northeast side of Wichita, Kansas. There are no restrictions to civilian IFR or VFR flight Read More
Ideal for owner-pilots or small operators. Textron Aviation has introduced a new maintenance solution tailored for the owner-pilot of Cessna Citation, Beechcraft King Air and Cessna Caravan aircraft. Called ProMaintenance, the turnkey program covers the complete maintenance spectrum, including management of scheduled, unscheduled and aircraft on ground (AOG) maintenance events. “Designed to alleviate any additional Read More
No aircraft is immune to hydroplaning. Know your hydroplane speed, plan ahead and use good technique when landing on wet surfaces. A light jet overran the runway at Chicago Midway Airport in mid-July. Perhaps because the new-model jet was the first of its type delivered to a customer, images of the aftermath received widespread distribution in Read More
Every aircraft has its unique characteristics, which begs the question: how can this airplane hurt us? It is a short trip today: Seattle’s Boeing Field (KBFI) to Boise, Idaho KBOI) in a vintage 1983 Lear 35. Less than 30 seconds after our wheels leave the pavement of runway 13R we are doing 250 knots and Read More