Search Results for: vfr

Thursday, 11th of October 2018 – ALSIM has once again expanded its presence in North America with a new joint Alsim/Cirrus Aviation demonstration center and simulation lab in Florida, United States. Officially opening this week, the new facility at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport contains Alsim’s latest simulation products including the AL172 and AL250. This mix […]

Is the FAA about to go all-in and all but remove the weight restriction on light sport aircraft? Here, key the ecclesiastical music, insert the visual of the clouds parting and Jack Pelton descending the mount with the stone tablets, or at least a USB drive announcing something intriguing. But let’s tap the brakes and […]

Transponders have been with us since the 1950s. They have improved greatly over the years such as the addition of providing pressure altitude in 100-foot increments and other aircraft information but essentially perform the same basic function, aiding in the positive identification of a radar contact. This is accomplished by two means. First, through the […]

The 411 On 406s Mr Nelson’s description of the ELT technology, be it 121.5 or 406, is fairly accurate. The application of this technology in the real world is not quite up to par. The ELT as we know it is based on antiquated 1950’s concepts with numerous single points of failure incorporated in the […]

On my way home from Oshkosh Air Venture last August, I observed the billowing anvils of thunderstorms south of my flight path. Both the radar and satellite pictures showed buildups advancing northward, which would cut directly through my route. So, I took the safe option and landed at Dalhart, Texas for the night. The ability […]

From the curious headline file: Crash Pilot Had Certificate Revoked. We published that last week atop a story describing the fatal crash of a Cessna 335 in which it was revealed that the owner/pilot had apparently been flying without a pilot certificate for 21 years, having lost it by revocation. A curious headline generated an […]

What sounds like a dream flight will undoubtedly be a technical and logistical nightmare as a British group attempts the first circumnavigation in a Spitfire. Although the aircraft climbs like a scalded cat and can go more than 400 MPH, Spitfires were designed for 20-minute bouts of dogfighting, not 27,000-mile cross countries. With a combat […]

The U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says drone encounters accounted for almost the entire 58 percent increase in air proximity reports (airproxes) in the past five years. The BBC analyzed data from the CAA that says the airprox total jumped from 172 in 2013, when there were no drone complaints, to 272 in 2017, including […]

Both overall and fatal accident rates in general aviation have reached a 10-year low according to the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Joseph T. Nall Report. Report data showed fatal crashes decreasing to just 0.84 per 100,000 hours. This year’s Nall Report (PDF) reviewed trends in general aviation accidents from 2015, the most recent year for […]

It’s easy to look at controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents as the kind you’ll never get into. Sure; you may suffer an engine failure from contaminated fuel, or scrape a wingtip while landing in a stiff crosswind or even forget to put down the gear before landing. But flying a perfectly good airplane into […]