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Published: 15 February 2026

  By Howard Deevers   Have you ever done something wrong and wondered, “How did I make that mistake?” Another word to use here is “habit.” We get into a habit of doing the same things over and over. How many times have we driven out to the street and turned right? Then, on a day that we planned to go left, we turned right anyway. Oh, well, I will just have to make

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Published: 14 February 2026

  We had another great turnout for the 2025 scholarship cycle with forty-three applications received. As was the case last year, the overall quality of the scholarship applications was impressive. In past years, the career objectives for many of the applicants focused on becoming professional aviators. However, we are seeing an increase in students pursuing careers in

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Published: 15 January 2026

  By Howard Deevers   If you look at the amount of flying from Tucson to Phoenix, and other airports in Arizona, you might think that there are a lot of flying clubs in Arizona. I get calls from pilots that are looking to join a flying club. Newly certificated pilots that just received their Private Pilots Certificate, but can’t afford to own an airplane, so they

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Published: 15 December 2025

  By Howard Deevers   Everyone knows the Mississippi River, the longe and most important waterway in the United States. I was born in Cape Girardeau, right on the banks of the Mississippi River in southeast Missouri, and most of my growing up and educational days were in eastern Iowa also on the banks of that river. Thus, I have a natural fascination for that

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Published: 15 November 2025

  By Howard Deevers   Fifty Two does not sound like a big number. There are 52 weeks in a year. What is significant about this? There are about 52 General Aviation fuel related accidents per year in the U S. That is one per week! Doing research on fuel-related accidents, I find that this has not changed over the last 10 years. Some years it may be a few more, or

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Published: 15 October 2025

  By Howard Deevers   I believe that all pilots remember that first solo flight. The moment that the instructor endorsed your logbook for your solo flight, gave you some brief instructions, and got out of the plane to watch you on your first solo was an exhilarating moment. It is as exciting for the instructor as it is for the student. It marks a point in time

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Published: 15 September 2025

  By Howard Deevers   M O N stands for: Minimum Operating Network. Pilots will find this MON inside a shaded box, on the Low En Route Charts at airports that are considered Minimum Operating Network airports and VOR's. This system was instituted by the FAA in 2016. No big announcement was made about it that I can remember. With more and more pilots going to GPS

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Published: 16 August 2025

By Paul Wiley   The FAA definition of Loss of Control - Inflight (LOC-I) is the “unintended departure from controlled flight”.  LOC-I accidents are by far the most common category of accident as shown in the chart below from the US NTSB.  LOC-I accidents account for almost half of all fatal General Aviation (GA) accidents. It has often been said that

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Published: 15 August 2025

  By Howard Deevers   After reading quite a few accident reports, I noticed that there were many that happened during a “go around.” I know that you remember your basic training about go arounds, and you will have to demonstrate one on a checkride. So, why do we have so many accidents during a go-around that is a maneuver that should prevent accidents? Reading

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Published: 16 July 2025

By Paul Wiley   This article describes an overview and some highlights after reading “Mike Busch on Engines” a book about piston engine design, operation, condition monitoring, maintenance and troubleshooting for General Aviation (GA) aircraft.  I heartly recommend that you purchase this book and read it cover to cover.  It is an excellent addition to any