Short Final

My old Bonanza was a very capable airplane for instrument flying, but my panel avionics did not include an FAA-blessed GPS navigator. My Garmin portable was a highly capable situational-awareness tool, but for IFR flight planning, I always stuck to VOR-to-VOR airway routing, even if the turns from one fix to the next involved nothing […]

In the 1980s, when I worked at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, New Hampshire, it had an innovative flight training program with a diverse fleet that included Grob G109B motorgliders, Mudry CAP 10 aerobatic trainers, and swift and slippery Mooney 201 complex singles. Based at Nashua Airport, DWC’s high-density flight operations blended in with a […]

My friend and I were flying his SR22 into Denver’s Centennial Airport. I was handling the radio. We were VFR at 13,500 feet when Center handed us off to Denver Approach. I checked in, then followed up with a request: Me: In case we need it, can I expect a Bravo clearance? Approach: No. A […]

I owned my little two-seat Grumman AA1-B for 22 years and loved it. But after getting my instrument rating, I realized it just wasn’t practical for IFR travel. So I eventually sold the Grumman to a friend (who formed a partnership with another pilot) and upgraded to a 1954 V-tail Bonanza, which I also loved. […]

Stop me if you’re heard this one. Many years ago, a foreign student with a heavy accent contacts air traffic control over the east coast of Florida saying he’s lost. The controller gives him a transponder code and tries to get a general idea of where he is in relation to coastal landmarks. After a […]

On a recent trip from the West Coast to the Midwest, I’d just checked in with Center after a couple of 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 […]

Years ago, I was a student pilot on a night flight with my instructor. We flew from Palo Alto across San Francisco Bay and over the hills to Livermore for some touch-and-go landings. After several turns in the pattern, we headed back over the hills to find the bay covered with a thick marine layer. […]

All my flying for the first several years of owning my Grumman AA1-B was VFR, even at night. And my electronic navigation was limited to the Narco Escort 110 in the panel, which could navigate and communicate, but not both at the same time. I learned the trick of setting what seemed like a good […]

I was making a late‐night approach to Des Moines International Airport. Me: “Des Moines approach, Baron 12KA, 15 east at 3000.” Tower: “12KA turn left heading 180, descend then right to land on 23.” Me: “Roger, 12KA.” I was on a heading of 270, then turned left to 180 and headed south. With the airport […]

A few years ago during my private‐pilot solo long cross‐country I was heading to a southern Wisconsin airport with a tower known to be easily annoyed. So I was an over‐prepared nervous student pilot who had ATIS as soon as I could get it and listened to it more times than I needed. Full of […]