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The folks atMoffett Fieldlocated in Sunnyvale, California, musthave a thing about building things BIG. If you have ever overflown Moffettor driven past it on the Bayshore Freeway, you won’t forget the size of thehuge Navy blimp hangars. The largest was built to house theairship “Macon” and would swallow a whole squadron of P-3swithout any effort. […]

If you’ve looked at the instrument written booklet lately, you’llnotice that although there are some new questions here and there,not much has changed. The written is heavy on regs, theory andweather but light on the real meat-and-potatoes grit of IFR flying.This is especially true of how the feds treat SIDs and STARs. Consider, for example, […]

Thanks to Mike Overly of the Aviation Safety Institute, sponsor of AVSIG, forpermission to make this transcript available on AVweb. Moderator-Mike: The witching hour is upon us, so I’ll gavelthis formal conference to order now. Our guest, as you all know, is Tony Broderick. Rick Cremer, you’re first…goahead with your question. Rick Cremer, FAA HQ: […]

“They’re nothing but a crutch,” my friend Saul said over the phonefrom Los Angeles. “Well, you know how I am,” I replied. “I need allthe help I can get.” It was good that he couldn’t see the smile on my face. Or my wife’srolling her eyes to heaven. “Sure,” Saul said sourly. “Help. You didn’t […]

Cessna Three Four Uniform, cleared direct to the Lost at or above3000 feet, cleared for the VOR 24 approach at Podunk Muni, report the procedureturn inbound. The above is a routine clearance that’s probably issued a hundred timesa day by various ATC facilities. You’re instrument rated, so we’ll assumeif you hear a clearance like this, […]

With a new, remanufactured, major overhauled or top overhauledengine utilizing proper break-in procedures is critical to avoidinghigh oil consumption and its related problems. The main purposeof break-in is to seat the compression rings to the cylinder walls.Let me explain what ring seating is all about. While a new steel cylinder may look like a smooth […]

Horses thunder around the far turn, their hooves beating almostas fast as your heart. You watch your favorite colors come intothe homestretch, just a wish and a nose behind the leader. Winor lose, you leave elated at your first visit to Saratoga racetrack. In it’s heyday in the 1890’s, the racing season at Saratoga wasthe […]

One of the most difficult times in a pilot’s workday is the transitionfrom purely instrument cues to visual cues needed to land froman ILS approach. In my flying career, I have had the misfortuneto see such ham-fisted maneuvers at this critical point that Ithought I would share some ideas on the subject. Transitioning to visual […]

Depending on your vantage point, there are lots of ways to viewthe FAA. From the inside looking out, we imagine the agency itselffavors the beehive view, which would have legions of workersshuffling important paperwork, all in the efficient advancementof air commerce. We’re kind of partial to the rock crusher analogy:The thing is just one big, […]

The stereotype of pilots – tall and fit, with lots of hair andperfect vision – is one that not many of us live up to. Butthat doesn’t mean we can’t aspire to the image of dashing barnstormeror cocky cockpit commander. Poor vision not only shatters that image, but for many peopleit represents an inconvenience severe […]