Flight Planning

A few years ago, I flew into RDU really late at night to drop off a couple of folks. On the way out, taxiing down to 5R, ground control called out. Ground Control:“Twin Cessna, where are you going?” Me:“To 5R.” Ground Control:“You were cleared to 5L.” Me:“Would you like me to do a 180 and […]

Unleaded aviation fuels developed by Shell and Swift Fuels will move on to Phase 2 testing in the FAA’s Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative, the FAA announced today. The tests are part of the FAA’s ongoing efforts to develop an acceptable unleaded fuel for small airplanes. “Small aircraft are the only mode of transportation that still […]

I just now heard this while listening to the McKinney, Texas (KTKI) tower: N1234:“McKinney Tower, N1234 is 10 east, inbound at 2,500 for touch-and-goes.” Tower:“N1234, ident.” N1234:“Ahhh. Uh. I am about 10 east at 2,500; heading: 270 — a red-and-white Cessna 172.” Tower:“N1234, just press the identbutton on your transponder please.” N1234:“Oh, O. K.” Ron […]

Back in the late ’90s, as a radio operator on MC-130E Combat Talons, I was returning to EGI from the East Coast. As I neared home, the pilot asked:“R. O., see if we can get lower.” I asked ATC for lower, as directed by the pilot. The kind folks at ATC denied our request. The […]

Structural failure accidents, often from getting too friendly with thunderstorms, kill both people and what little good press GA is able to garner. In the last decade, 50 accidents—about 10 per cent of all accidents—were due to in-flight structural failure. Worse, even with better weather data in flight, these accidents aren’t going away. Turbulence, Not […]

Going through Air Force pilot training at what was Williams Air Force Base (now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport), we used tactical call signs for our training flights, and one of those was “Foe.” The numeric portion of the call sign was determined by the last two digits (minutes) of your scheduled takeoff time One day, a […]

Short-field landings are all about using excellent technique to get your airplane into a tight spot. That same technique, however, can put you in an even tighter spot when it’s time to leave. Most general aviation aircraft land shorter than they leave. This performance disparity can be subtle at sea level, where the two numbers […]

Heard over north central Florida: Cirrus 123CD:“Jacksonville Center, Cirrus 123CD. 5,000.” Jacksonville Approach:“Mooney 123CD, altimeter 30.05. Fly heading 220.” [no reply] Jacksonville Approach:“Mooney 123CD, fly heading 220.” Cirrus 123CD:“Sir, was that for 123CD? Because you keep calling us a Mooney, but we are a Cirrus.” Jacksonville Approach:“Well, if you keep calling me ‘Center,’ I’m going […]

In 2009, I was making multiple flights around the southeast U.S. and landed in Columbia, South Carolina at Columbia Downtown Airport (KCUB) on multiple occasions for business. The runway at KCUB is parallel and adjacent to an active railyard. After contacting the KCUB tower for my IFR departure clearance on a clear VFR day, the […]

As part of AVweb’s Features, we’re starting an occasional series on innovators who are making a difference in general aviation—the young guns of GA, so to speak. We’ll be doing interviews with them where they can talk about what they’ve done and their vision for the future of the area of general aviation where they […]