While most civilians are unaware of a small group of guardsmen flying in a West Virginia training schoolhouse, the Fixed Wing Army National Guard Aviation Training Site – or FWAATS – is well-known and well respected among United States Army aviators. “What’s great about FWAATS is that you’re actually flying an airplane,” Chief Warrant Officer…
The altimeter climbed through 1,000 feet as the aircraft began a controlled turn to the left. The back of the aircraft, which once held an executive interior, has been replaced with a myriad of medical devices and purpose kept seats. Passengers now include medical professionals and a patient on a gurney connected to tubes and…
On August 20, King Air Academy Founder Ron McCalister was killed when his 1984 King Air B200 crashed while trying to depart Rockford, Illinois (RFD). He was the only one on board. Ron had dreamed of becoming a pilot since his youth and loved to tell the story about just how committed he was to…
Over the last several years of watching King Air pilots in both their aircraft and in the simulator, it is obvious that they typically have developed their own cockpit flows and use of checklists. As Tom Clements has outlined time and time again, when you are new to flying a King Air, the checklist should…
In a sign of these pandemic times, Textron Aviation last month launched the new flagship of the Beechcraft King Air family with online fanfare only. On Aug. 4, the company posted a 10-minute recorded video on its social media channels followed by distributing a press release with details of the King Air 360 and 360ER,…
Even on a warm and calm day, the power and danger of Lake Superior is palpable. The largest fresh water lake on earth, its enormity can be appreciated from nearly any perspective. Whether flying above it, strolling along a sandy beach, perched high on a shoreline cliff, or crossing in a large ship or ferryboat,…
While the experience piqued his interest in aircraft and planted the seed for learning to fly later in life, he never imagined that he’d one day operate an air charter business out of “The White Building” at Cardiff Airport, a facility that back then was the head office of the airline that was eventually absorbed…
As both an airline pilot and an active general aviation pilot, maintaining my various legal currency requirements to act as pilot in command (PIC) has historically been relatively easy. My airline simulator training and checkride events suffice to meet my Biennial Flight Review (BFR), Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC), and my 90-day multi-engine landing requirements (as…
Air traffic controllers are a mystery to some. Through time and experience, most pilots become comfortable talking to air traffic control (ATC) and operating fully within the national airspace system. They adeptly navigate through normal and special use airspace, arrival and departure procedures and instrument approaches into airports. As pilots, we take pride in being…
Every pilot remembers their first solo flight. It’s a huge milestone where, after hours of training with a flight instructor, you are finally deemed ready to take the aircraft up on your own with no one else on board. Those first few moments, as your wheels leave the ground, are both exhilarating and terrifying as…