Search Results for: vfr

A big breakfast and lunch are in store for The Weekender as the SocialFlight calendar gets more fly-in activity.Big South Fork Airpark will host its Oyster Roast Fly-In on Saturday in Tennessee. All residents and guests are invited to celebrate spring at the welcome center and enjoyfresh oysters, grill items, cool drinks and live music. […]

Within the cavernous FAA warehouses in Oklahoma City molders jetsam once vital to National Airspace System (NAS), such as NDBs, Terminal Control Areas, Flight Service Stations (FSS), GADO (General Aviation District Office) and, now, Flight Watch. Time was when you were cruising in your ’47 Navion with the canopy slid back, and the ADF pointing […]

The problem of jump-starting your plane is you have no idea of the condition of the battery once it starts, and it will be at least 90 minutes cruise or possibly not at all before the battery has any true backup value. A strong case can be made that you are operating an un-airworthy airplane, […]

In a market rich with tablet and smartphone navigation apps, Garmin has announced a new, purpose-built portable GPS navigator, the aera 660. It’s the company’s first dedicated aviation portable since the aera 796 appeared in 2011. Following the trend in smartphones, the aera 660 has a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen and more interface capability than any […]

A fatal crash in Alaska in November 2013 was initiated by one small mistake by the pilot — a missed frequency change, which meant the lights failed to come on as expected at the destination airport — but in the NTSB’s final report, issued on Friday, the safety board said a chain of events and […]

In 2009, I was making multiple flights around the southeast U.S. and landed in Columbia, South Carolina at Columbia Downtown Airport (KCUB) on multiple occasions for business. The runway at KCUB is parallel and adjacent to an active railyard. After contacting the KCUB tower for my IFR departure clearance on a clear VFR day, the […]

Back in the 1950s, social critic and philosopher Lenny Bruce said that no one is shocked anymore. He was probably correct, given our national tolerance for the excesses of those in the entertainment biz, and those seeking to join the weirdness. Yet, I find my level of amazement at flight schools that grind out new […]

The Weekender’s fly-in season has already begun, as far as breakfast is concerned. TheSocialFlightcalendar has plenty of choices in warm and wintry climates to suit your taste. EAA Chapter 237 in Blaine, Minnesota, invites all for its mid-winter famous pancake breakfast on Saturday, where a donation will get you a big plate and a boost […]

Ask aircraft owners about their experience with an annual inspection and you are likely to get many different opinions and scary tales of what was and wasn’t done. Unfortunately, there are shops and mechanics doing business haphazardly and that have little concern for customer service. I have been an IA mechanic and shop owner for […]

Why do holiday newsletters begin with, “It’s hard to believe another year has passed”? Have we not yet accepted the earth’s orbit around the sun? Or is it truly unfathomable that no matter what reality dictates we’re doomed to repeat the same dumb things year after year? And I’m not just addressing you folks in […]