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

Should The Pandemic Change How We Look At Aviation’s Safety Record? • The number of deaths from COVID-19 in just one day is as much as 10 times greater than the number of light plane crash fatalities in an entire year. Does that matter?

Refueling

Why Do Pilots Sit In The Left Seat? • There must be a good reason for it, right? There is, and we tracked it down.

News Of Note

Airport Neighbors Unhappier About Noise Than Ever Despite Far Quieter Planes • New FAA study reveals how aircraft noise annoys like nothing else and suggests the reason why.

Communicate Like A Pro • How to have the “right stuff” every time you hit the mic button!

GEAR

ACCIDENT BRIEFS

The Kindness Of Strangers, Aviation Edition • Whether it’s a float picker’s unexpected lift or a lucky ride on a rainy Anchorage night, simple, or sometimes not-so-simple, acts of thoughtfulness don’t seem random at all.

A Gift Of Flight From My Father • I never expected him to say yes, but he did, maybe because it was the one great thing he could give to me.

CROSS CHECK • YOUR AVIATION CROSSWORD

LEGENDARY AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHER JIM KOEPNICK’S PORTRAITS OF FLIGHT • A gifted air-to-air and fly-in photographer, Koepnick has over the years gotten the chance to train his lens on some remarkable people—pilots, that is. The results are nothing short of breathtaking.

5 DELUSIONS THAT ALMOST KILLED OFF PERSONAL FLYING • Light GA has been around for more than 100 years now, which is something of a miracle considering all the bullets it has managed to dodge over the years.

LIGHT TWINS BINARY THINKING LIVES ON • Until 35 years ago, light twins were a force to be reckoned with. Today, in both the used and new marketplace, they account for a sliver of their former glory, for some really good reasons, though the flip side of that coin, owners insist, is equally compelling.

MAYBE IT’S TIME TO FIRE YOUR FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR • Many flight instructors don’t know how to prepare you for your FAA Practical Test; moreover, some don’t care. How to tell the difference.

Commuter Craft Innovator Experimental Test Flight Accident • A prototype of the composite canard aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a flight test that never should have happened.

40 Going On 16…And Memories Of A First Solo Delayed • Reflecting on my first solo flight during a birthday spent under the instrument panel

The Comanche 400: Pug Piper’s Muscle Car On Wings • Boasting the biggest engine in light GA, Piper’s hot-rodded PA-24 didn’t get much love in the day. Today, they are prized by their owners.