Flight Planning

A contest sponsored by Lightspeed and CloudAhoy is inspiring general aviation pilots to draw in the sky. Contestants make line drawings using the path of their airplanes, recorded using CloudAhoy, a smartphone-based GPS flight tracking app. The concept, on a larger scale, was popularized in the last few years by jet aircraft manufacturers who used […]

I was in the lineup to depart LAX. A Delta jet was ahead of me and a Short Bros. 360 was ahead of Delta. Delta (strong southern accent): “Ah, ground control, could you tell us what kind of aircraft is that ahead of us?” Short Bros. Pilot: “Ah, we are a Short Bros 360.” Long […]

Following hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the general aviation community distinguished itself by mobilizing to fly disaster-relief supplies and personnel into the affected areas and people and pets out. Being one of the fraction of one percent of our nation’s population that is a pilot, I watched news coverage of my sister and brother aviators who […]

The IFR environment is different from most any other human experience—voluntarily strapped into a seat, within a cocoon of aluminum and a maze of wires, flying miles above the Earth. Without any visual reference, this event can be both stimulating and stressful. Of the three phases of IFR flight; departure, en route and approach, we […]

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 […]