Features

Welcome back, class. For those that cut the last session, you can review it here. For the rest of you, here’s a quick review of the highlights from the last session. We covered beacon code assignments, handoffs, initial callups and student pilots using ATC services. In this session we’ll build upon those subjects, explore some […]

My two previous columns about CAF’s “new” C-131 and the development of our normal-procedures checklist for it drew such a phenomenal response, and I got so many excellent suggestions by email, it appears to be in my own best interest to put the emergency stuff up here for comment and critique. Keep those cards and […]

After flying for a few years, many pilots come to feel that airports, just like airplanes, have personalities. Here in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport there seems to be a pretty universal opinion that while each airport is a gateway to the world aloft, some are warm, friendly haunts, as comfortable as an […]

First, some old business … I’m pleased to report that my previous column has had a good response, almost entirely by private email. There are now about 25 people signed up for the C-131 ground school. Many are “crew chiefs” and non-pilot volunteers, some are obviously well-qualified to be SICs, and several are qualified to […]

Stayce D. Harris was born June 8, 1959, in Los Angeles, Calif. She graduated from 71st High School in Fayetteville, N.C., in 1977. In 1981, she earned a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California, earned her Air Force commission from USC’s AFROTC program, and began flight training at […]

When Garmin first announced its forthcoming big-screen color mapcom in 1999, my salivary glands took on a life of their own. I just knew I had to have one! It’s been a long wait, but it was definitely worth it. After four months of flying with the GNS 530, I can say without reservation that […]

Simply stated, the function of any expert witness is to educate the trier of fact (judge or jury) so as to lead that individual or group to the same inescapable conclusion that the expert reached. Of course, if, during the discovery process, the expert is successful in educating opposing counsel and leading him or her […]

Ice tinkled in glasses. Large screen TVs blared and you could hear the subtle sounds of country music wafting over the sour smell of warm beer and tattered dreams. I was at the bar in the layover motel once again. Many people suppose that airline pilots are drug-crazed loonies; otherwise, why would we be made […]

Since I’ve been writing this column I’ve been reading various and assorted publications about aviation just as I always have. I try to stay abreast of what is going on the the industry and how it might affect ATC. Writing this column has given me another perspective as I read. I’ve always questioned whether most […]

Driving along Interstate 280, the wind is really buffeting the car. It’s actually difficult to keep it pointed in a straight line, and it has four tires glued to the pavement. This is what I’m thinking about as I head for the airport. As I get further west, leaving the urban sprawl of New York […]