Matthew Johnston 
Passengers in big airliners hear certain aviation sounds that have become commonplace in our flying experience. They hear machine made aviation sounds (like the engines humming as the jet flies through the air) and other assorted things like the flight attendant call button tones. But, on the whole, the auditory environment within the giant flying tube …
Even without having ever been in a functional airplane, Leonardo Da Vinci observed, For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return. Flying in a small airplane, whether as the pilot or as a passenger, is …
Pilots necessarily have a significant aeronautical vocabulary that has been refined for decades. Much of it is formalized in the Pilot/Controller Glossary (Federal Aviation Administration, 2014) and in the Airman’s Information Manual (AIM) (Federal Aviation Administration, 2017). Both of these are published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is the governmental arm responsible for overseeing air …
Let’s begin with this: Airplane accidents and incidents, whether in a relatively small plane like a four-seater or in giant airliners, are incredibly-rare events and, despite the common fiction, people do not typically die in airplane accidents. According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s latest, 2015 Civil Aviation Accident Statistics (the latest combined data available), …
In the outstanding TV series Sky King, which ran from 1951 to 1962, “Sky” would rush out to his twin-engine Cessna, the Songbird, start her up, and spring into the sky, ready to do good deeds at a moment’s notice. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it? It’s not. It’s death-defying. Before any flight, all pilots must do …