Search Results for: vfr

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, Sept. 2005. Night flying can be one of the most enjoyable ways a pilot can exercise his or her flight privileges. The air is generally smoother, there usually is less traffic (unless you’re flying near Memphis or Louisville) and any traffic will be easier to spot. Too, clear […]

[Editor’s Note: Recently two flight instructors wrote a book on how to use Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) to enhance pilot training and to provide sim-only pilots a guide to making their flying more realistic. AVweb will publish several chapters from this book, beginning with this chapter on weather. To download the FSX files they […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Nov. 2006. Years ago I used to fly into the Toronto City Centre Airport (CYTZ), although in those days it was called the Toronto Island Airport, because it was built on an island in Lake Ontario.Back then, the only instrument approach that was available was an NDB approach […]

Fog shrouded the Northwest airport. A single-engine, retractable-gear airplane, with three aboard, was arriving from a routine, cross-country flight. The experienced pilot set up for a GPS approach. At the missed-approach point, the ground was still obscured so the pilot powered up and began a climb; but as the aircraft crossed directly over the airport, […]

Pilot Mark Dusenberry was unhurt but his handbuilt replica of the 1905 Wright Brothers Flyer III aricraft was damaged in a crash landing during a demonstration flight at Huffman Prairie, in Ohio, on Friday. The aircraft was airborne for only about 30 seconds when it started to porpoise, then banked, and a wingtip hit the […]

The International Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has successfully lobbied the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to delay by three years implementation of onerous language proficiency rules it says would severely limit VFR flight in much of Europe. Under the ICAO proposal, all pilots would require to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in either […]

Sportsplanes.com said they will introduce the Breezer II LSA this fall, featuring a bigger baggage compartment and heavy-duty toe brakes to replace the handbrake lever on the current model. The Breezers are built in Germany … . Powerful Learning has released two new software products, the VFR Pilot Review System and The Private Pilot Study […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Safety, August 2005. Pilots are a curious bunch. Arguably the result of concentrated, lengthy training in everything from reading and understanding aviation regulations, manipulating an aircraft’s controls, and obtaining and understanding weather reports and forecasts, we still find ways to bend sheet metal and injure people. Yes, every now […]

Well, there’s a Web site for just about everything these days and ClearanceWiki.com is aimed at the growing frustration of GA pilots in obtaining IFR clearances. The free service, announced last week, offers pilots airport-specific guidance on expeditiously obtaining IFR clearances while they’re safely on the ground. “If IFR clearances are readily available, pilots are […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Oct. 2006. Most ILS approaches take from three to five minutes to complete after crossing the final approach fix (FAF). What you’re about to read is the story of a pilot who was cleared for an ILS approach just before his aircraft disappeared from radar, only to pop […]