The Citation 1SP has made a name for itself in the general aviation community as the original VLJ.  Since the last was produced in 1985 it remains to be a fuel efficient, easy to fly, extremely reliable airframe capable of 1,000 nm legs and available for purchase (SN 501-0177 at ChaseAviation.... read more »

Using an airplane broker to help list your aircraft for sale may be a given for many people, but you may not always think to use a professional when it comes to purchasing your next airplane. Unless you're an experienced pilot AND know a lot about the CURRENT aircraft market, you may want to consider hiring some help.... read more »

I am amazed at the amount of aircraft owners who think that the best person to sell their aircraft is the same person that literally stops making money once the plane goes away.  Sure, there may be aircraft managers out there that can see past the current aircraft and to the replacement aircraft, but at the same time they’re still going to have to get retrained, add the new plane to their certificate, train pilots, etc.... read more »

I've always felt that the stock market and the amount of activity we see company-wide were somehow loosely tied together or at least that the two trends followed one another... until recently.  Being the economic driver that it is, the United States will always lead the world in setting the starting point for what the world economy is doing but as of late, it seems that buying an aircraft may be a better investment than buying stock.... read more »

Provided by Mark Horne, Flying.com Nothing will ruin a picnic quicker than some bad weather. No one knows this better than pilots. The best way to ruin a pilot’s day is by putting them in the middle of bad weather. This year’s Sun N Fun fly-in took a turn for the most unpleasant as a tornado reportedly touched down in Lakeland, Fl.... read more »

This post should have been the first one, but I just now was able to get these awesome videos uploaded. On taxi to run up, the controller gave us our choice of what runway to use. We picked runway 17 because we were closer to that end of the field. During run up, a UPS 767 cargo flight departed just ahead of us.... read more »

We woke up early, at 5 AM to meet the instructor at the Kona Airport by 6 am. The sun wasn’t up yet, so we did the preflight on the Cessna 172 in the dark with a flashlight. The instructor really expedited our checklists and preflight, so we started up pretty quickly and headed off to the fuel pit to get the fuel tanks topped off.... read more »

I was planning my next flying lesson for the beginning of February, but because of a high wind warning, and low level wind shear, my lesson was canceled. Unfortunately, I was not able to work in another one before leaving town. My wife Heather and I are in Kona, Hawaii.... read more »

The news has reported recently that the FAA is fast-tracking the process of approving drone flights in US airspace. Until now, drones were limited to being used by the Department of Homeland Security for patrolling the US-Mexico border. Now it seems that drones are on their way to broader use.... read more »

As with most things aviation, I am a huge fan of this new show on the Discovery Channel, “Flying Alaska Wild“. The show is on Fridays and follows a family who runs a regional (puddle jumper) airline throughout Alaska. The challenges of running any airline are significant, but in Alaska weather and logistics present several special nightmares. ... read more »

Up until now, I have only flown to the practice areas south of John Wayne airport. This includes the El Toro practice area as well as the Dana Point practice area. One great thing about flying the same practice areas is that you get accustomed to the landmarks and navigation.... read more »

747 vs Airplane Tug read more »

Stats: 22.5 hours (time in both Cessna 152 and Cessna 172) 79 Takeoffs and Landings Currently working on: Stalls, Steep Turns, Unusual Attitude Recovery, Instrument (hood work), Radio Communication with Control Tower, SoCal Approach, Ground Control, Clearance Delivery and Flying the Traffic Pattern at KSNA (John Wayne, Santa Ana). ... read more »

My wife and I recently took a trip to SEA TAC in Washington State. Let’s review all of the awesome aviation related attractions along with those that we did and did not see while we were there: Boeing Field – We did not see it. Boeing Factory Tour – We didn’t do that.... read more »

With a jet that has parking for a Rolls Royce also possibly powered by 4 engines make by Rolls Royce this plan for an Airbus Flying Palace may be the most extravagant private aircraft ever conceptualized. This plane is reportedly under development for a high profile royal from the middle east, possibly Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal.... read more »

Here is a United 747 buzzing the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. You can see that they have the flaps and gear down to get that puppy as slow as possible right over the bridge. You have to admire the steep turn with the plane setup in landing configuration, and the size of the plane makes it seem much slower than it really is. ... read more »

What do you do when you can’t decide between flying a scale RC plane, and flying the real thing? What do you do when your building airplane hobby gets a bit out of hand? You build a lawnmower powered WWI replica plane, of course. This homebuilt airplane is just plane fun.... read more »

Next time I think that learning to fly can be the slightest bit overwhelming, I’ll just have to watch this video of a pilot flying solo without arms: Pilot_Flies_Without_Arms-SABG.wmvUploaded by vidalde. – Explore more music videos. read more »

If you love flying and aviation, and you want to sponsor me to become a private pilot, you can donate: Or Advertise, or you can Hire Me to do something. I have been taking flying lessons at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA (KSNA). I decided to go with Royal Aviation after interviewing 2 other flight schools first.... read more »

Beautiful, low time F33A Bonanza – Factory air conditioning, KFC200 Autopilot, Garmin 530, Garmin XPDR, HSI,ETC – VERY LOW Time Airframe and engine – beautiful cosmetics – ONE OF THE NICEST PREOWNED BONANZAS AVAILABLE ANYWHERE Read More at UsedAirplanes.c... read more »

Warning: This post is heavy in sarcasm, and may be considered PG-13 The kooky concepts behind the Irish airline Ryanair are well documented and discussed. For example, as a cost cutting measure, the CEO has proposed to add standing room only seats, or rather specialized ‘seat boards’ that force passengers to remain standing, yet buckled in. ... read more »

After researching every single flight school at the airport I will be using for my lessons. I finally settled on Royal Aviation at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. I’m looking forward to jump starting my private pilot training. My instructor told me that I need these books from Amazon to get started on studying the material. ... read more »

What’s another name for hell on wheels? For experienced pilots, it could be the new sport pilot flying the Terrafugia flying car. The flying car drives as a car with it’s wings folded up, and transitions into a light sport aircraft when traffic gets backed up.... read more »

Straight out of some 1970s aviation thrill-scare movie a Flight Attendant on an American Airlines flight just helped the captain land a 767 in Chicago. The flight attendant stepped in after the first officer became ill (cue Airplane! jokes) she also has a commercial pilot’s license, so there’s that.... read more »

Rod Machado’s Private Pilot Handbook I actually downloaded the Audio MP3 format allows me to listen to it repeatedly on my iPhone. I need all of the repetition and help I can get to absorb the material. Thanks Rod! As usual, Rod’s wit and creative presentation style make learning the Private Pilot material fun and more interesting than other books for the Private Pilot certificate.... read more »