Search Results for: vfr

A participant in last summer’s GA flyover of Washington, D.C., internet personality relates his unique experience.

I once had the opportunity to fly my vintage V-tail Bonanza to Washington-Dulles International Airport to report on the opening of a Signature Flight Support facility there. So, you can tell this was a long time ago. I can’t remember if I had filed IFR, but the weather was perfect, so maybe I was on […]

The instructor looked at me out of the corner of her eye and said, “Okay, you try the cyclic, I’ve got the collective and the pedals.” I hadn’t flown a helicopter for almost 10 years, and I really didn’t know how much I remembered. We went through the usual three-step exchange of flight controls. “You […]

Being aviation professionals, we need to train for what is possible, even if it seems unlikely. It’s the things you least expect that inevitably will happen. If you’re not ready for them, you’ll definitely struggle. The Unicorn Clearance It was a quiet morning—the pondering kind. There weren’t many planes, maybe four, in my low-altitude sector […]

Various special use airspace (SUA) and the military operations that accompany them are somewhat enigmatic—we know we should stay away, but we really don’t know the particulars. And if you’ve ever taken a longer trip, encountering an SUA is inevitable. So it’s critical that we understand how to operate in and around them. That’s why […]

Sunny times will return to our local grass strip, but this day was clearly not that day. Cold winds, low clouds and scurfy ice accumulations on the few hangars there indicated that not only would the groundhog see his shadow on his official day, but he would probably find himself frozen with a coating of […]

There are a couple of new wrinkles for the hundreds of private aircraft operators who use Palm Beach International Airport after Monday. When the presidential TFR is in effect (10-nm inner ring, 30-nm outer ring) for President Trump’s trips home, operators will have to register passenger and crew information through its eSecure Flight system before […]

Submitted by Roger O’Neill, Overhead Intelligence. In early 2025, the FAA is anticipated to release a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Part 108, aimed at regulating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations. This landmark step could revolutionize drone operations in the U.S., offering greater airspace access to commercial drone operators while maintaining […]

My flight school required us students to fill out a TOLD (takeoff and landing data) card with weight and balance, and fuel planning prior to each flight. Most of the time, our flight training was consistent: 1.0-1.5 hours of block time, full fuel, two passengers, a couple of flight bags. Plan it once and it’s […]

(This story originally appeared in Aviation Safety Magazine.) “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it.” Stop me if you’ve heard that before. The same could be said about managing the risk of general aviation. We—both FLYING and the industry as a whole—spend a lot of time preaching to pilots […]