My wish for the seventh day of Christmas is not something you can find in a pilot shop but we all want it: a safer aviation. The safety record of General Aviation is excellent but we can work altogether towards a better one. So for this day, let me give you a handful of links that will help our community to become safer.

Patrick, from aviationchatter.com has lots of good tips and two of them are particularly relevant for today’s collection: Stop that Airplane! about taxiing, and Plan Ahead for the Missed Approach, which is self-explanatory. Aviation is all about learning and preparation. Julien, from makingtimeforflying posted a great article with tips for preparing night VFR flights. I like Julien’s posts, which are always full of details, like this one about Drinking and Flying.

Max Trescott has a full section dedicated to safety on his blog. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but being an Alpine pilot, I’ve been really moved by this story: engine failure at night, over mountainous terrain. This post is made of e-mails Max exchanged with one of his former trainees. Breathtaking.

I’m convinced that one of the best ways to learn is from the other’s mistakes. Sylvia, from fearoflanding.com was kind and brave enough to share her experience in a short circuit where she thought she broke a Saratoga. She also posted earlier this year about extraordinary cases where Air Traffic Controllers saved pilots from potentially dramatical situation.

Just like Max, Matthew has a safety section on GolfHotelWhiskey.com. As always, his postes have a funny touch, like this one about a “Darwin Award” awarded for to two pilots. He also posted about an auto-pilot accident orignially discussed by Max.

So I wish that we will all learn, become safer pilots, and fly towards an improved safety record.

Click here to read more of this series on the 12th days of Christmas.