Flight Planning

Heard over rural Massachusetts. Cherokee XYZ (tremulous voice): “Albany Approach, Cherokee XYZ five miles northeast of Pittsfield at 3500 feet, requesting fight following to Kilo Oscar Romeo Delta.” Silence: all on frequency were contemplating the Cherokee, a student pilot at the controls, attempting the impossibly long flight to Chicago and then penetrating the O’Hare airspace. […]

Nav Canada, the nonprofit corporation responsible for air traffic control in Canada and over the North Atlantic, said Sunday it had restored its automated flight planning system after the main facility housing the equipment was flooded by a thunderstorm in Ottawa, early Saturday. The flood caused the evacuation of the facility and staff moved to […]

The wishes of ForeFlight users eager to use Jeppesen departure, arrival and approach plates have come true. The partnership between ForeFlight and the famed navigation data publisher was announced in early May, but access to the instrument plates only became available to ForeFlight users Wednesday. The upgrade to Jeppesen charts covering the continental U.S. plus […]

Heard recently on the CTAF frequency at Arlington Municipal Airport (KAWO) in Washington: Cessna 123: “Departing 34, straight out to the west.” Eric Taylor

Heard from a foreign student turning off after landing at a strange airport.Tower: What are your intentions?Student: Returning to China as soon as possible! Robert Reser

The effort now underway in Congress to privatize the air traffic control system would be a disaster for general aviation, according to Mark Baker, the president of AOPA. In a podcast interview this week, Baker told AVweb that July is a critical time for aviators to lobby their congressional representatives, if they agree with AOPA’s […]

Mark Baker, president of AOPA, says the general aviation community needs to rally right now to thwart efforts in Washington to privatize the air traffic control system. Duration: File Size: download here

Heard over Joshua Approach in the southern California Mojave Desert: Approach: “All aircraft on frequency, turn right five degrees.” After a moment’s pause…. Approach: “All aircraft on frequency, return to previous heading. I am now retired. So long” Stephen Hackney

Every year for the last 39 years, the FAA has conducted a survey to help estimate the level of general aviation activity. Scott Wagner works for TetraTech, the independent research firm that collects the data. “We’re interested in activities for general aviation and Part 135 aircraft,” he told AVweb this week. “We take a sample […]

Air traffic controllers have quite a few options for saying one simple thing: “Turn your airplane.” Each vectoring method, like a hammer or a pair of pliers, is a specialized tool designed to fit a particular situation. As you fly, you may hear a variety of vectoring radio phraseology on a daily basis. Like many […]