FBOs

Eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin’, we’re going to do something that they said couldn’t be done — arrive on time in Newark on Christmas Eve.This feat is harder during the Christmas season than almost any other. In addition to unusually high passenger loads, icy weather and high winds, we airline crews are dealing […]

I don’t know why air disasters take on the names of towns or places. I guess we have to give them some sort of name to catalogue them in our minds. Perhaps geography is just convenient. It does seem unfair to the towns. Lockerbie, Scotland, didn’t have anything to do with Pan Am 103 blowing […]

I heard the commotion as I started down the hall from the flight school to the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport. In the few moments it took to get to the door of the Lounge, individual voices became clear, split into two very vocal camps: The vehement “Yes it will!” calls being answered by […]

A 777 cockpit can be a crowded place if you fill all of the seats. Along with the relief-pilot seat there is a fairly uncomfortable jump seat. With the back of the airplane full of returning Americans and potential British ex-pats, I found myself a sort-of cockpit captive for the eight and a half hour […]

With the coming of the very light jets (VLJs), I’ve had many folks ask me just what jet type-rating training is like. Although it’s hard to evaluate the programs currently under development, there is a general format they will all have to follow: the Practical Test Standard, or PTS, provided by the FAA for the […]

I said it before but I’m going to say it again: The job of an air traffic controller epitomizes the saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw a flight plan with BZM.T203.PSK in the route of flight. What the heck is T203? Turns […]

It was about an hour after sunset at the virtual airport. I was sitting in one of the big recliners in the pilot’s lounge wondering whether the cost of avgas was a great cosmic practical joke and curious as to whether it was possible to calculate just how much weight I’d have to lose to […]

My 17-year-old nephew Kermit asked me to go with him out to the local airport to have a gander at some WWII bombers that were visiting the aviation museum. It was a good excuse to avoid mowing the lawn and gave him the chance to scare the bejesus out of me with his driving.I was […]

It’s time to pick annual leave for 2006 at Atlanta Center (ZTL). We pick our days off and two weeks of leave at the same time. I’ve been senior enough to get Saturday and Sunday off for some time now. Lots and lots of controllers get really excited about seniority. Me, I never give it […]

All of us in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport were affected by Hurricane Katrina in some fashion. As I write this, one visitor is still looking for a cousin who lived in New Orleans but did not own a car and was unable to evacuate. Stan, in Mississippi, is repairing damage to his […]