Flight Planning

FlightAware is using machine learning to help flight departments, pilots and passengers much more accurately plan and execute their business flights. The system has billions of gigabytes of data on flight profiles, weather and diversions over the past 15 years and can use that accumulated knowledge to predict the outcome of an individual flight. “If […]

Watching the continuous streaming of a waterfall can be mesmerizing. Something inside all of us expects it to have a beginning or end, so we watch and wait, and eventually we just let it go—realizing that it will continue falling down in that place, sometimes for centuries. The wind is like that too, but we […]

The FAA is now requiring all pilots filing flight plans to use of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) flight plan format. The transition, which the agency first planed for October 2015, went into effect on Tuesday. According to the FAA, using the ICAO form (PDF) will allow for a greater variety of entry types […]

An apparent administrative error may have cost Brussels Air $1 million after a flight from Brussels to Washington, D.C., was turned around over the Atlantic. According to various forum sources (but not confirmed by the airline) the A330 involved was a recent acquisition and a last-minute replacement for the flight. As the aircraft approached Canadian […]

It’s a beautiful morning and you just received a standard pilot weather briefing for a long cross-country flight—one that covers a day full of activity. The skies are calm, clear and worry-free right now, but the forecast indicates possible turbulence, icing or storm activity later in the day while you still expect to be in […]

U.S. general aviation operators may not be able to fly in some Canadian controlled airspace and vice versa when ADS-B is fully implemented, according to Nav Canada. The not-for-profit corporation is also a major investor in Aireon, a recently activated space-based ADS-B tracking system that requires ADS-B 1090ES transmitters with antennas on the top of […]

The D-Day Squadron is the American contingent participating in the Daks Over Normandy flyover crossing the English Channel to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2019. The epic journey of a fleet of C-47s (military DC-3 aircraft) will honor the soldiers of the War.

Odds are you remember this from your first intro flight: Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft was rocked by some little burble in the air. If you’re like most people, you turned to the instructor to ask in alarm, “Did I do that?” Later in training, we learned to view bumpy conditions as a potential checkride […]

The temptation was to assume that balladeer Billy Joel was enforcing his star quality when news hit mainstream media that the Piano Man was fighting to keep his ability to land a helicopter at his New York home. It seemed he was yet another spoiled celebrity bothering his neighbors with frivolously obnoxious use of a […]

One of the most ambitious warbird adventures ever undertaken was scheduled to lift off from Oxford, Connecticut, Sunday as 15 Douglas DC-3 variants head to Europe to reenact the D-Day invasion. After 18 months of planning, the aircraft will launch early on Sunday for Goose Bay on Canada’s northeast coast. Goose Bay was a vital […]