Aviation Blog

This blog is written by retired Designated Pilot Examiner and long time CFI Alan Malone.  He has written well over 250 essays and they are listed below.  We hope you enjoy reading them and will learn something beneficial as well.  

If you would like to contact Alan to thank him and comment on his essays he can be reached at alanm1@cox.net.

Have you ever had a significant amount of ice form on your light aircraft, during a flight?  If you have, just the fact that I just mentioned it probably caused the hair to stand up on the back of your neck.  Well Alan has had a happen more than once, and he writes about in this week’s essay….Ice is a Major No-No (Essay #287)  To read the essay click….  HERE

Most of you that read Alan’s Essays must know that he was a long time FAA DPE.  And as one, you must know that he had to have frequently asked students a lot of the same questions over his long career….and they are usually called  FAQ’s.  So what is a FMQ?  To find out you’ll have to read this week’s essay….FMQ (Essay #285).

To read the essay click….HERE

The disease of “Get-there-itis” is something that all pilots are aware of….and it seems like it would be no problem to eradicate.  Unfortunately most of us have had at least a mild case of it.  A bad case can be fatal.  Alan confesses that he has actually had a case of the illness in this week’s essay…. On Risking Life and Limb to See a Basketball Game (Essay #284)

To read the essay click HERE.

I always thought the Beech 18 was a beautiful classic aircraft.  Alan tells about his experience flying them in this week’s essay… The Twin Beech (Essay #283).  To read the essay click….

HERE

Have you ever been sitting on the end of the runway looking at some high trees on the other end and wondering if you are going to clear them?  Or circling an airstrip looking down at the runway and wondering if I can get down and stopped before I hit that building on the end of the runway?  Most of us have at some time or another.  It’s a good idea to have a fairly firm answer to that question before you give it a try.  Alan talks about just that in this week’s essay…. How Much Room Do You Need? (Essay #282)

To read the essay click….HERE

A newly married couple with a Piper Clipper.  What do you do?  Right, take off in it for your honeymoon.  This week’s essay is A Clipper Honeymoon (Essay #281)

To read the essay click HERE

What was your attitude when you started flying lessons? Alan writes about several of his students in Student Attitudes (Essay #280).

To read the essay click HERE.

They’re a whole lot of numbers to deal with in aviation…. and some of them are there to help us from running out of fuel.  Alan discusses that in this week’s essay…. By The Numbers (Essay #278).

To read the essay click HERE.

I never thought of anyone having a Multi-Engine rating and not having a Single-Engine one…… but Alan has and has met some of those folks.  See what he has to say in The Single-Engine Class (Essay #277)

To read the essay click HERE

How do you answer the question…. “What do you do for a living?”  Alan tells you his answer to that question in this week’s essay….. A Little of This and A Little of That (Essay #276)

To read the essay click….HERE

To be a good teacher you need to know how people learn….and that applies to teaching folks how to fly as well.  Alan explains that in this week’s essay called

Levels of Learning (Essay #275).

To read the essay click HERE

Alan gives us a fun Christmas reflection in this week’s essay called The Santa Bust (Essay #274).  To read it click HERE,

If you are a regular reader then you know that Alan had to transition from private aircraft travel to airline travel this year.  He reflects on a year of trips in this week’s essay….. An Impressive System (Essay #273).

To read the essay click HERE

Alan recalls the many technological improvements that he has lived through in aviation during his long flying career.  He calls this week’s essay Pilots and Robots (Essay #272).  To read what they were click HERE.

Alan discussed in a recent essay about the old parachutes and how they were difficult to steer.  Now he discusses the newer rectangular parachutes that were easy to steer but you would either land very softly or very, very hard.  Guess which way Alan landed?  And how could that possibly relate to the title of this week’s essay, Rehabilitation in Seaplanes (Essay #271)

You will have to read it to find out by clicking HERE

Alan is starting to wrap up things for the end of the year in End of Year Hodgepodge (Essay #271).

To read the essay click….HERE

You watch skydivers now with their modern parachutes and they seem to be able to steer them to a spot landing almost anywhere they please.  Well, it wasn’t always that way. Alan tells about one of his jumps in the “good old days” in A Walk in the Weeds (Essay #270).

To read the essay click….HERE

In this week’s essay, Alan has written about several scenarios that show how hazardous attitudes can lead to a possible accident.  It’s easy to read them and identify the other folks we know that have that attitude, but sometimes it’s difficult to see our own issues.  Well, we’re in there somewhere if we get honest with ourselves. The title of the essay is Hazardous Attitudes That Affect Aeronautical Decision-Making (Essay #269) and to read it click HERE.

Is stress a good thing?  Well maybe it is sometime.  Alan gives his thoughts in this week's essay On Stress (Essay #268). 

To read the essay click HERE.

Did you know that motorcycle riders make better pilots?  Alan explains why in this week’s essay More About Multitasking (Essay #267).

To read the essay click HERE

Most pilots look for reasons to go flying.  Alan talks about his and other reasons in this week’s essay called Excuses For Going Flying (Essay #266).   You can read it by clicking HERE

As a new pilot, were you ever worried about getting lost?  That might seem a little weird to new pilots when you can navigate easier with your phone than anything we had in the instrument panels in the early days.  In today’s essay Alan talks about how he navigated in his early pilot days in Where the Heck Are We?  (Essay #265)

To read it click HERE

Alan writes about a very serious safety issue this week that has claimed many lives in Multiple Approaches Are a Bad Idea (Essay #263).  To read the essay click…. HERE

Are the requirements for a Private Pilot Certificate adequate?  Alan gives his take on that in this week’s essay - How Far Should We Go In Private Training (Essay #262).  To read the essay click HERE.

If you’re a pilot I’m pretty sure you remember a lot of details about your first solo.  Alan tells you why in this week’s essay…. The Initial Solo (Essay #261). To read it click HERE

Alan writes about another experience with airline travel versus general aviation aircraft travel.  He calls this one Good News/Bad News (Essay #260). To read it click HERE