Flight Planning

Thirty years ago, the idea of carrying sophisticated digital radar in anything under a medium twin would probably have been met with roars of laughter, but technology has brought amazing advances. Now it’s possible for even an ultralight pilot to use the Internet to access essentially the same tools that are available to forecasters. In […]

Two polar station workers in need of medical care were successfully evacuated from the Amundsen-Scott station as the South Pole on Wednesday, according to the National Science Foundation. CBC reported that the Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air flew the two workers from Amundsen-Scott to Rothera, on the Antarctic Peninsula, a distance of some 1500 miles. The […]

Aviation news events covered at a distance—by us, or anyone else—don’t always convey, shall I say, a lucid reality. I’ve been following the Kenn Borek Aviation rescue mission to the Amundsen-Scott Station in the Antarctic a little more closely than I might otherwise because I’ve got a little Twin Otter time and I’m curious about […]

Overheard while flying through the New York Class B airspace: Pilot: Departure ABC 795 off 14L climbing to 5000′. Controller: Is this 725 or 795? Pilot: What did I say? Controller: 795. Pilot: Oh sorry, I guess this is 725. Controller: Don’t worry about it, I mix up call signs all day. Pilot: Yeah, but […]

Solar Impulse 2 is expected to launch from New York to Seville, Spain, Monday on the longest leg of its circumnavigation using solar power only. The flight was to start on Sunday but weather concerns delayed it by a day. The flight will take an estimated 90 hours and will be flown by Bertrand Piccard. […]

Two Canadian Twin Otter aircraft are in Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile waiting out weather to launch a rescue at the South Pole. The aircraft operated by Kenn Borek Air, of Calgary, Alberta, were dispatched last Wednesday to pick up a person who has fallen ill at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. […]

The plodding search for EgyptAir 804, which went down in the eastern Mediterranean en route to Cairo on May 19, has again ignited the discussion about real-time transmission of critical flight parameters via satellite. In an age when the world is stitched together with numerous satellite systems, doesn’t relying on ancient flight and voice data […]

We were inbound to Auckland after a long 12-hour Pacific sector through the night. It was around 5:00 a.m., and there were four other wide-body inbounds (787s, 767s, and 777s) arriving about the same time. Auckland Control was doing a no-nonsense job, without any chit-chat, when the terminal information changed due to a pressure difference […]

Without nearly enough fanfare, some excellent guidance on a subject that is becoming increasingly critical for pilots was released two weeks ago. Entitled Flight Safety in the Drone Age(FSDA), it is a three-page document that should be read and digested by every pilot. While the FAA has enacted regulations concerning drone operations and the respected […]

This dates back many years, to March 1989. I was transporting a heart for transplant, together with a doctor and nurse, from the southwest of England to Papworth Hospital near Cambridge. Because it was the middle of the night, the only open runway nearby was a USAF Alconbury. As I approached, I was asked a […]