Short Final

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 […]

Back in the late 1970s, I worked in the admissions office for the A&P training program at East Coast Aero Technical School in Lexington, Massachusetts (some of you may have heard of that town). The pilots and aircraft owners on the staff would often take new members of the office staff up for an airplane […]

From IFR Magazine reader Ashok Joshi: Taxiing to depart for our home in New Hampshire after picking my wife up at New York JFK Airport in my Bonanza, I was in line between a pair of Southwest Boeing 737s. As we waited for clearance to cross Runway 13/31, the ground controller said, “Southwest 123 cleared […]

From AVweb reader Adam Broun: I was flying in the Northeast a few days ago, monitoring 121.5. I heard seven clicks on guard, then a couple of comments from anonymous pilots… “I don’t think that’s going to work.”“I think the sun is already switched on.”

During my primary flight training, I hung out a lot at the local airport, getting to know the pilots and their airplanes. One guy in particular, we’ll call him “Tom,” stood out; he was a family friend and employed by a local company to fly his boss around in a Piper Twin Comanche. One day I […]