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Pilots who have attended the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany may have spotted Pegaso since it was first exhibited in 2018. Six years later, the model lacks American representation, so ‘Yankee’ pilots generally don’t know this flying machine. This is Pegaso, a European ultralight that expresses a beautiful style we expect from Italy. Promecc is […]

Women aviators from the U.S. and across the globe are set to embark on the 47th Air Race Classic (ARC) on Tuesday, June 18, commemorating the 95th anniversary of the historic Women’s Air Derby. The race covers a challenging 2,628-statute-mile route across 11 states, with the finish line awaiting at Northern Colorado Regional Airport in […]

Light sport aircraft (LSA) have been part of the aviation firmament for almost 20 years and over that time some models established themselves even as newcomers regularly arrived. The way the FAA accepts—not “certifies”–-these airplanes allows for rapid improvement, which has stimulated surprisingly fast progress. Here are three favorites—two tried and true, and one relatively […]

I don’t know about you, but I have been less than happy with the flashlights available to pilots. I really enjoy flying at night, but the selection for both preflight inspection and in-flight use leaves me wanting more. Top of the list is the GI-issue, 90-degree D-cell flashlight, complete with replaceable red and blue filters. […]

Looking for the perfect enticement to lure your loved one into the air with you on Valentine’s Day? For those significant others who aren’t pilots or enamored with flight itself, an additional romantic edge can frost the cupcake, so to speak—and translate into a day you’ll both love—and remember. Here are four suggestions we have […]

By the summer of 1983, I had finished my junior year of ROTC, and our old neighborhood gang was reunited again. Larry Leonard and I roomed together our college freshman year at the Castilian dorm, where I met my future wife, Karin. Before starting our senior year, Larry and I moved into the same Austin […]

By my reckoning, there have been two golden ages of general aviation in my lifetime. The first peaked around 1976, coincidentally a year when so many of the airplanes we mere mortals can afford to own and fly today were constructed. Thousands of single-engine piston airplanes were produced each year. FBOs were numerous, diverse, and […]

By Jonathan Welsh My son is reading The Great Gatsby in his 10th grade English class—the same school year when I first read it—and chatting with him about the story’s setting got me thinking about New York’s Long Island and how I have wanted for years to fly to Montauk on its eastern tip. Yes, […]

At 3 p.m. on August 4, 2021, a beautiful bright yellow T-6 took off from McCharen Field Airport (M83) in West Point, Mississippi. The sky was blue, with no clouds or obscurations to visibility. It was 88 degrees, with a light wind out of the north. It was a perfect day for a VFR pleasure […]

It’s not just me. Many of the pilot population in my circle confess to having the same difficulty: understanding what the heck ATC is saying, and what they want us to do. Controllers seem to talk faster, using lots of words. We hate to ask them over, but we also don’t want to misunderstand and […]