Search Results for: vfr

I was flying home to Oakland, talking to Travis Approach when they called traffic at 10 o’clock, three miles, converging, same altitude unverified. I noted the N number from ADS‑B, and did a quick look up on “N‑Numbers” on my phone. I use Post River Software, which contains the entire FAA database within the app. […]

What’s So Special About Special VFR? If I’m not on an instrument flight plan, I don’t like getting close to controlled airspace where I will be getting vectored (controlled) by ATC in less than favorable conditions. ATC cannot see the clouds, and under VFR you as PIC must remain clear of the clouds. I was […]

I learned a lot about flying airplanes while working 60 feet underground. I served as a missile launch control officer in the U.S. Air Force in the waning days of the Cold War. We worked in two-person crews, a commander and a deputy, behind a sealed blast door in a small room filled with old-school […]

“Shine out, fair sun … that I may see my shadow as I pass.” Sound advice from Shakespeare’s Duke of Gloucester (Richard III), a CFI who understood the importance of looking outside the cockpit and away from the electronic gewgaws that distract us from flight. Gloucester was an unlikely inspiration as I recently underwent a […]

The raw performance numbers of a Meyers 200 might resemble what you’d expect from the most modern single-engine piston speedster, even though the airplane is a product of the 1950s, and went out of production in the 1960s. But don’t turn a nose to these old gals because of their age. We’re talking cruise speeds […]

For more than five days in January of 1925, 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs led a relay across 674 miles of the Iditarod Trail in a desperate race to save the community of Nome, Alaska, whose residents were suffering and dying in a severe diphtheria outbreak. Today, we hear echoes of that legendary Serum […]

Recognizing that most A&P schools have little to nothing to say about electric aircraft, Pipistrel, which is currently building the Velis Electro two-seater, has launched its own five-day training course for mechanics. Pipistrel’s intention is to train the trainers, so to speak, so that they, in turn, can train local maintenance personnel as the Velis […]

Departing Buckeye for Flagstaff, the Phoenix Departure controller was obviously a stickler for standard communications. Phoenix: Two Seven Victor, Squawk Fife Tree Tree Tree. Us: Okay, squawking five and the forest, Two Seven Victor. Phoenix (chuckling): 27V, Radar contact, cleared on course, maintain VFR. David Bunin

Anyone who has seen the Cygnet SF-2A will remember the two-seat, side-by-side taildragger because it looks like no other. Contrary to the high- or low-wing choices favored by designers of Amateur-Built and certified aircraft, the Cygnet extends its wings from the shoulder like outstretched arms. Even more unusual, the wingtips are 14 inches ahead of […]

Correspondence from the FAA is enough to elevate a pilot’s heart rate well into triple digits. A letter from the FAA stating that the pilot’s competence has been called into question and requesting that the pilot take a reexamination checkride with an FAA inspector will make even the toughest pilot go weak in the knees. […]