Flight Planning

The president of the largest benefit flying organization in the U.S. says help is welcome from private aircraft owners in the enormous relief efforts in Texas and Florida but it needs guidance and direction. Rol Murrow, who leads the Air Care Alliance, said ad hoc volunteer pilots often get in the way, sometimes cause extra […]

Heard on Denver departure. N1234: “Just off Centennial” Center: “Squawk 6666” Center: “Umm, do you want another? We could give you a different one.” Silence N1234: No, it’s okay, we’ll keep that one.” John C. Lamb

As Hurricane Irma raged up the west coast of Florida, images of the storm were pouring from news sites and it’s inevitable that aircraft and airports will have suffered from the onslaught. For instance, there was a report Sunday that the roof was torn off the fire station at Naples Airport.There will be coverage of […]

Controller: Cessna 123, traffic, opposition direction, five miles, at 4,000 feet Cessna 123: Looking for traffic, Cessna 123 Controller: Cessna 123, Love Field, six miles, 12 o’clock. Cessna 123: Cessna 123 looking for Love. Pause Cessna123: That didn’t come out right, did it. Controller: No but we hope you find Love, … and the airport. […]

Historical allies AOPA and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) are now pitted against each other in an unusual battle over airport access, fuel costs and fees. AOPA, along with “seven affected pilots,” has filed a Part 13 complaint with the FAA against three Signature FBOs in Key West, Florida; Asheville, North Carolina; and Waukegan, […]

While flying back to my home airport, KAVQ, I heard this exchange from two pilots entering the non-towered airport airspace: Cherokee: Cherokee 1234 entering left downwind for runway 12, full stop. A Grumman Tiger pilot was also entering left downwind making a similar call. Cherokee pilot: Grumman aircraft, we will swing wide since you are […]

My daughter and I flew back from AirVenture on the last day of the show. While flying over Eastern Iowa and monitoring 122.80 we heard the following conversation that we assumed was between a couple of crop dusters: Pilot 1: “Hey XXX did you make it to Oshkosh this year?” Pilot 2: “Yeah, we got […]

Aug. 21 will likely go down in history as one of the most interesting for pilots, the FAA and airports across a middle swath of the country that will include the path of totality for a solar eclipse. The level of activity expected at airports along the path is pretty well documented but what is […]

If you’re planning to fly toward the path of totality to view Monday’s coming solar eclipse, you won’t be alone. The FAA says several airports located in the path said they are expecting “a significant increase” in traffic before and during the eclipse. Many of these airports are non-towered and have limited capacity to accommodate […]

Members of Congress are back in their home districts this month, leaving Washington quiet and empty, but that doesn’t mean the efforts of general aviation lobbyists who oppose ATC privatization are on hold. “The GA community can’t let its guard down,” said Mark Baker, president of AOPA, in a statement issued last week by several […]