Flight Planning

General aviation pilots make IFR takeoffs in reduced visibility and low ceilings on a daily basis. We line up, launch, establish a climb, transition to the gauges and press on with the flight. Assuming there is an approach with adequate minimums at home plate or a nearby airport, we’re confident we can return and land […]

Often the hardest part of flying into a big Class B airport is finding your way around on the ground. After landing at Washington Dulles, I heard this exchange on the ground frequency. Hawker: “Ground, Hawker xxx, uh, we’re having some trouble finding Foxtrot” Ground: “Hawker xxx, where are you?” Hawker: “We’re at Zulu and […]

If you were busy last week, you may not have noticed the story about Flytenow scrolling by on AVweb. In a nutshell, the brief described how the U.S. Supreme Court had declined to hear the company’s challenge of a ruling upholding a lower court finding that Flytenow was engaged in improper common carriage. Flytenow, you […]

Pilots who fly in Southern California’s busy airspace will soon be expected to follow new procedures, so the FAA has planned a series of public meetings and webinars to bring everyone up to speed. The live webinars will include time for Q&A with FAA representatives. The sessions, set for this month and next, will focus […]

While we were preparing to shut down at a tie down spot at Henderson Airport, Las Vegas, ground control was directing a taxiing Piper. Ground: “Cherokee Nxxxx, say your destination.” Cherokee:“Uhh, we’re not sure where we’re going. We’re just following the van in front of us (the “follow-me” van). Ground (chuckling):“I mean when you depart […]

Recently heard on Bremen Information (Germany): Pilot: Bremen Information D-EABC ATC: D-EABC Bremen Information Pilot: D-EABC there is a guy here violently moving on the vertical about 2000 feet up- and downwards. Do you know about that and does he have a permission to do that? ATC: D-EABC yes, he does, But you have no […]

As a 16-year-old student pilot I was on a short night flight from Hershey to Capital City airport (KCXY) in Harrisburg, PA. I was told on initial contact to “report a three miles final for runway 26.” Me: “Piper xxx is three-mile final runway 26” Tower: “Negative Piper xxx…you’re 4.5 miles out. We’ve got the […]

A couple of years ago, flying into ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland), just the day after the landing fees increased once more, we heard the following conversation while on hold between a Cessna 172 on final and the controller. It was a busy day with lots of commercial traffic. Controller: Cleared to land runway 28; winds calm, […]

On a recent flight from San Antonio to Fort Stockton the center frequency got very quiet. Me: “Center you still there?” Center (after a few seconds): “Yeah, it’s slow but they won’t let me go home” Jack Ogle

Many years ago while flying into MFR (Medford, OR) as a newly minted pilot from a non-controlled airport I was nervous to say the least.I got a right downwind entry clearance but I absentmindedly entered an extended left downwind. Tower: “Experimental 123xy, okay left downwind will work just fine too, and cleared for left base […]