Features

Thanks to Professor Lisa Whittaker at Western Michigan University for providing much of the information in this column. One of the frequent visitors to the pilots lounge, here at the virtual airport, is a pilot who has been flying for three or four years. He is conscientious, works on improving his skills and has fun […]

New York Air Show In spite of the decline of aviation and airports nationwide, it’ s still nice to know one town and county in the New York area supports aviation. On Sept. 20 & 21, the former Grumman Naval Weapons Industrial Facility — now known as Calverton Industrial Park — hosted the New York […]

I was taking my brother for his first flight in a GA airplane. He was somewhat nervous and a little overwhelmed by what we go through to launch a flight. I picked up the local ATIS on my handheld before engine start and, after we got in the plane and were ready to call for […]

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** We received over 300 responses to our question last week on the publics support of general aviation GA). Approaching half (44 percent) of those responding felt many people dont understand the many benefits GA offers the community, while 309 percent said general aviation is perceived as an annoyance. Only 1 percent […]

New York City TFR Talk about one hand not knowing what the other is doing — the FAA wins the award this week. There is a NOTAM TFR that basically follows the outline of the New York Class B. Except, TRACON is telling us the TFR has a radius of 40 nm, not 20 nm […]

Neighborhood parties usually aren’t my thing. When it comes to drinking beer in the backyard while dozens of unaccompanied minors are screaming and running around my ankles, I’m not easy to get along with.This neighborhood beer bash had an important difference that made it more fun for me: It wasn’t in my back yard. This […]

Approach : Heavy 123 : Hold straight and level! Heavy 123: Holding straight and level.(pause)At least, that’s assuming my First Officer can hold straight & Level…

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** We received over 100 responses to our question last week on the pending FAA Reauthorization Bill. The vast majority (75 percent) of those responding felt the ongoing delays of this legislation are a result of the usual play of politics on Capitol Hill. Less than one-tenth (8 percent) mentioned the need […]

When Greg Herrick asked me 18 months ago to be one of the pilots for his five aircraft on the National Air Tour he was re-creating, I reacted like most every one else: “Sure I would!” To be perfectly honest, I thought there was no way in hell he could pull this off, so I […]