For a lot of people, the aviation medical is the thing standing between them and their first lesson. Not the cost, not the time — the quiet worry that they'll go through a examination, get told there's something wrong with them, and that'll be the end of the dream before it starts. We hear it constantly: "I wear glasses, is that a problem?" "I was on antidepressants five years ago." "My blood pressure's a bit high — should I even bother?" So let's take the mystery out of it. Here's what the...

There's a moment that comes for almost every helicopter student, usually somewhere in the first handful of lessons. The instructor hands you the controls in the hover, takes their hands and feet away, and says something encouraging like "you have control." Within about two seconds the helicopter has decided to wander sideways, tip a little, swing its nose, and sink - all at once - and you're left chasing it around the sky feeling like you've never coordinated anything in your life. If that's...

It's the first question almost everyone asks when they find out we teach people to fly helicopters: "But what happens if the engine quits?" Usually it's said with a slightly nervous smile, because the popular belief is that a helicopter with a dead engine drops out of the sky like a brick. It doesn't. A helicopter with a failed engine can glide, can be steered, and can be landed, power off, onto a chosen spot.