Features

A Cessna 172 has gone viral on social media this week as it completed a ferry flight from California to Hawaii. According to FlightAware, the aircraft, N176TA, departed Merced Regional Airport (KMCE) in California on Tuesday and flew some 2,425 miles before landing in Honolulu, Hawaii, 18 hours later. The flight was more than three […]

On a recent trip from the West Coast to the Midwest, I’d just checked in with Center after a couple sectors in NorCal. A few minutes later, the controller gave us a climb to our final altitude, FL230. Then, after another few minutes: Center: “Uh, 40N, did I give you FL230? I know I thought […]

I worked for Dassault Falcon Jet at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey for a few years, and though my usual commute was by car, there was one time when it made sense to fly my V-tail Bonanza to work. On a Monday morning, I was returning from a weekend trip to New England, and rather […]

From IFR Magazine reader Mark Klebanoff I used to live in the Metro D.C. area and pretty much nobody was cleared direct. To make controllers and the ATC computer happy, I used to file a flight plan with lots of airways, named fixes, and VORs. Then I moved to Ohio. Old habits die hard, so […]

Back in the early 1980s, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon launched a popular religious movement whose followers were known as “Moonies,” no relation to Al Mooney, designer of fast and efficient general aviation airplanes. This led to some amusing confusion. One day at a crowded airport with a common traffic advisory frequency (then known as […]

I was preparing for some instrument and maneuvering practice with my instructor, Andy. Sitting in the apron area in a Cessna 172 with the engine running, I made my initial call to Texarkana Ground as follows: Me: “Texarkana Ground, Skyhawk 62689, Texarkana Flying Club; ready for departure with information Delta.” Texarkana Ground (in a completely […]

One of the joys of being based at an airport with a very active flight school (Orange County, Montgomery, New York) is the entertainment value of some of the radio transmissions. Witness: Slightly bored instructor voice: “168 Lima Alpha, 45‐mile final Runway 22.” Overly excited voice, hence probably a student: “Did you say 45‐mile final?!” […]

Many years ago, I was on a midsummer drive in the country when I spotted a few Cubs, Champs and other vintage light airplanes in the distance flying in circles at low altitude. It looked like they were dropping something. Sensing something fun going on, I headed in that direction and was able to locate […]

Most Grumman American AA1s had similar tail numbers, many ending in Lima, like mine. I was making a short hop in my little blue two-seater from Nashua, New Hampshire (KASH), southbound to Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts (KBED). Having once been based at KBED, the routine was well set in my muscle memory. I called […]

As the legend goes, a long conga line of airliners stretched down the taxiway at (pick your big-city airport of choice). The weather was getting steamier, and so was the tone of voice between the pilots and the harried controller. Scheduled arrival times—and some duty limits—were hanging in the balance, and so was the controller’s […]