From The Editor: Five Airplanes, 35 Destinations

Circumnavigating the globe in your own airplane is the ultimate flying adventure, but such a large undertaking comes with challenges of piles of paperwork and local permissions. That's where Air Journey comes in. Thierry Pouille's aviation travel company leads pilots on escorted flying trips and handles all of the complicated logistics. We joined Air Journey on the first legs of its 2014 Around The World trip, flying in Pouille's Citation Mustang with four additional airplanes from Quebec City, Canada, to Reykjavik, Iceland.

Piloting an open-cockpit biplane is one of the simplest and purest forms of flying. For this issue, Bill Cox flies the new Great Lakes 2T-1A-2 with Peter Bowers, owner of Waco Aircraft. Bowers modernized the Great Lakes design and incorporated changes that include toe brakes in the rear cockpit, more seat room, increased windscreen height and more.

Also this month, Cox flies the Zenith CH750 Cruzer. The all-metal light-sport aircraft is a high-performance version of the company's STOL model. It's designed for faster cruise performance and has other improvements such as enhanced visibility.

As we were taught during primary flight training, a good landing always starts with a good approach. And a good approach is established in the pattern. We have 20 expert tips to help you fly a better pattern at controlled and uncontrolled airports. Our tips relate to speeds and positioning of your own plane, plus working with other traffic also in the pattern.

To be a smooth pilot, you need to understand the nuances of using rudder. Budd Davisson, who has instructed 7,000 hours in a Pitts, often sees new students misusing rudder, or not using it when they should be. Davisson explains the real purpose of the rudder control and when it should be used, and breaks down why it's so important.

Proper rudder use is a trademark of a solid aviator, who'll also know the difference between what Davisson calls "looking" and "seeing." As Davisson explains, you want to be completely aware of what the airplane's nose is doing at all times, and of your visual scan. Both of these skills should be instinctive.

Marc Lee reviews ForeFlight 6.0, the most recent version of the flight planning app. New features in the latest release include a profile view of terrain, flight plan filing abilities, enhancements to geo-referenced airport diagrams and a firmware upgrade for Stratus users.

Much of an air show pilot's airborne time is spent flying cross-country to and from shows. Columnist Patty Wagstaff loves this part of her job, largely due to the sense of freedom long-distance flying imparts. However, weather can often change flying plans at the last minute. In this month's Let It Roll, Wagstaff talks about how to make the most of being grounded and appreciate FBOs.

Jessica AmbatsWriter

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