Plane & Pilot

Plane & Pilot is edited for today's active piston-engine pilot. Each issue is packed with pilot reports, tips to help you fly better, and the information you need to get the most from your flying dollar.

Plane & Pilot • planeandpilotmag.com

The End Of The Human Fighter Pilot And What It Means For The Rest Of Us • When artificial intelligence soundly defeated a frontline fighter pilot, it wasn’t the beginning of the end. It was just the punctuation.

Sole Survivors

Alien Abduction…Or Pilot Error? • The disappearance off the coast of Australia of a low-time, UFO-obsessed pilot 42 years ago remains just as much a mystery today.

News Of Note

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Dazzles • The simulator has taken the gaming world, and much of the flying community, by storm, and for good reason: It’s spectacular.

The Right Stuff Reboot Coming • The updated look at the birth of the manned space program is a dramatic series based on the book by Tom Wolfe. There’s a lot to recommend it.

How To Survive Automation Surprises • When the system does something really unexpected, how we respond can be the difference between a good day and a very bad one.

GEAR

Get Your Instrument Rating: Why The IFR Ticket Is The Best Option For A Coronavirus Rating. • Adding a rating is always a good idea, so if you’ve got time on your hands, you can get started now. And here’s the rating you should add.

ACCIDENT BRIEFS

An Electrical Fire Over The Jungle In The Rain • Sometimes a life-threatening emergency can cascade into several others, and it’s up to the captain to save the day.

CROSS CHECK • YOUR AVIATION CROSSWORD

COOL PLANES THAT NEVER MADE THE CUT • There are countless reasons why a plane might never make it to the finish line. In some cases, that’s a real shame.

Plane & Pilot 2020 Planes Of The Year • There’s no way around it. The year 2020 has been a crummy one. But here are two planes that show how innovation and determination can get you to the finish line and open up a whole new aviation future.

EMERGENCY LOCATORS • Personal Locator Beacons And Satellite Communicators 2020 Buyers Guide: We look into how PLBs work, the differences between them, and which one, or ones, to buy.

Vintage Cargo Hauler Ditches In The Atlantic • The cargo-converted Convair twin showed signs of a problem before both engines quit. The NTSB wanted to know why the captain, who perished, continued the flight.

Crashing In The Remote Desert • Our chances of surviving the rocky forced landing were slim. Then they got even worse.

Flying In An Empty Sky • The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything, and for commercial pilots, the many changes have hit especially hard.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress • Built with a purpose, the B-29 leapfrogged existing bombers and played a critical role in ending World War II.