Search Results for: vfr

If you’ve looked at the instrument written booklet lately, you’llnotice that although there are some new questions here and there,not much has changed. The written is heavy on regs, theory andweather but light on the real meat-and-potatoes grit of IFR flying.This is especially true of how the feds treat SIDs and STARs. Consider, for example, […]

NOTE: This review was written in 1996, and while it may be helpful in planning your purchases, links to purchase or download the demo no longer work.  We recommend visiting Destination Direct at their current home on the web, www.FlightPlan.com.  – 5/24/2005 Iremember my first major cross country flight as if it were yesterday. It […]

Ever notice how some towers seem to be more specific than otherswhen it comes to pointing out traffic? At some airports, you cancheck in with the tower and instantly be told “…trafficis a Lear Jet just off the airport, southeastbound.” That’sthe last you’ll hear about the Lear until he fills your windshield.Yet, at other locations, […]

Dear Cessna 210 Owner, FAA records indicate that you recently registered a Cessna 210 aircraft. I am writing to brief you on several safety-critical topics that we believe every Centurion owner should be aware of. Our experience indicates that many 210 owners (even some experienced ones) are not aware of certain important characteristics of this […]

We landed in Oshkosh in mid-afternoon five days before the official opening of the convention in what appeared to be a sleepy, under-utilized mid-western airport. The rains that had plagued the Midwest all spring and summer affected central Wisconsin as well. The grass taxiways used during the convention were soft and several of the traditional […]

I just got back from a very enjoyable flying vacation trip toMexico with my wife and another couple. I flew my Cessna 210from Dallas to the beautiful city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.After nearly a week in PV, we moved up the coast and over intoBaja. We departed on November 10, 1994 with the expectation ofspending […]

From a mountain clearing, safely ensconced within a strong and comfortablecabin, a thunderstorm at full throttle is an awesome and beautifulsight. But from a small aircraft in flight, with thunderstormsin all quadrants, the sight loses much of its beauty; and if inIMC with embedded cells, there is no beauty at all.  Thunderstorms are highly developed […]

I think many of us in the Northeast are looking for relativelyshort trips that can be flown in three hours or less — and TangierIsland neatly fits that description. US Sprint’s TV commercials in spring of ’95 gave tons of freepublicity to Tangier Island, an isolated fishing community inthe middle of Chesapeake Bay. The commercial […]

If you ever wonder why ATC seems to give preferential treatmentto airliners and bizjets and to discriminate against small planes,you need only monitor any busy ATC frequency. As a serious generalaviation pilot, nothing frustrates me more than hearing a lightplanedriver tie up a busy frequency and aggravate a controller throughpoor radio procedure. SoCal screeeee, Cardinal […]

It’s sometimes difficult for pilots to understand why air trafficcontrollers do the things they do. They often reject our requestsfor altitude changes, vector us away from our destinations, oroccasionally request what seem like unnecessary speed adjustments.These delays are bad enough when IFR in real weather but they’redownright aggravating when you’re IFR in good weather. If […]