by John Zimmerman | Mar 30, 2022 | John's blog
Many pilots chuckled when an obscure Swiss company introduced its mockup of a large single engine turboprop at the 1989 NBAA show in Atlanta. Sure enough, it was five years before the Pilatus PC-12 was certified, but since then the skeptics have all but vanished. The...
by John Zimmerman | Jan 31, 2022 | John's blog
General aviation has had a good pandemic. While I meant it when I wrote 20 months ago, “I genuinely believe general aviation will come out of this crisis stronger,” even a dyed-in-the wool aviation enthusiast like me was surprised by how quickly our industry bounced...
by John Zimmerman | Dec 30, 2021 | John's blog
This year was another busy one at Air Facts: we celebrated our 10th year online by publishing over 250 articles, including personal stories and lively debates, first solos and harrowing military adventures. The variety, skill, and passion of our contributors continues...
by John Zimmerman | Dec 13, 2021 | John's blog
Do you ever feel like Mother Nature reads your flight plan, then carefully moves the worst weather right over your destination? I’m no conspiracy theorist, but the idea seemed plausible to me as I cruised home on a trip last week. For 700 of the 750 miles we covered...
by John Zimmerman | Nov 8, 2021 | John's blog
What’s the most overlooked and misunderstood part of IFR flying? I nominate the obstacle departure procedure (ODP). While almost any instrument pilot can recite trivia like holding pattern entries or VOR test requirements—important but relatively rare procedures—many...
by John Zimmerman | Oct 9, 2021 | John's blog
Four years ago, I tried to capture the state of general aviation (GA) in 12 charts, covering everything from new airplane shipments to fatal accident rates. At the time, those bar and lines suggested activity was picking up, albeit from a fairly depressed level. An...
