Flight Planning

Phoenix approach asked a GA aircraft:“N1234, how far are you from your present position?” They were greeted with silence. Randy Richmond

We were flying into Birmingham, Alabama at about 2:00am on a Sunday morning. The sky was clear with great visibility. Birmingham has an ILS to runway 6, and the final approach fix is MCDEN. After checking in with Birmingham Approach, we were told to fly “direct to MCDEN for the McVisual approach.” John Young

I was attending a Wings safety seminar recently and the 1995 American Airlines crash in Colombia was discussed, including the video American Airlines made two years after the fact. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a click. In this compelling video, the speaker says the words that I believe have subtly, but profoundly, influenced […]

Obstructions, sand, mud, wandering animals and other surprises like the end of the runway rushing up to meet you…these are just some of the hazards common to short and soft fields. We all think we’re trained for them, but there’s a big difference between training and reality. I’m not knocking what CFIs teach or what’s […]

The FAA is looking at cutting its Contract Weather Observer staffing at 57 airports around the country, moving some duties to local ATC, according to an agency document and various media reports in recent weeks. Trained human weather observers contracted by the FAA supplement automated weather reports at towered airports, providing more discerning information including […]

While flying from Chicago to Bismarck, North Dakota on New Year’s Day, my co-pilot and I were monitoring 121.5 when someone asked if anybody had any New Year’s resolutions. Without skipping a beat, my co-pilot keyed the mic and responded:“Yeah, NOT talking on Guard!” To which someone else responded:“Yeah, me too.” Jim Burns

This occurred on a flight from Cincinnati to Roanoke, Virginia around 2005, give or take a couple years; I’m too lazy to look up the actual date in my logbook but remember that flight distinctly. I was the pilot monitoring, and John, the captain, was the pilot flying. We were approaching from the west, heading […]

Last November, I transported 40 endangered sea turtles (stranded on Cape Cod) from the Boston area to a turtle rescue center center in Georgia. I put “transporting endangered sea turtles” in the comments section of my IFR flight plan and had two interesting exchanges on the trip. — Providence Approach (PVD):“69 Tango, how’s your cargo […]

One of the highest uses for a general aviation airplane is to take your family someplace enjoyable. Done right, the trip is much faster than in the family car and a heck of a lot more fun for all involved. I won’t even comment about the joys of family travel on the airlines, baggage fees […]

Canadian GA and business aircraft can again take shortcuts over U.S. airspace on their way to Canadian destinations. The FAA has amended a NOTAMissued a couple of weeks ago that made such overflights illegal without special security measures. As we reported last week, the NOTAM, apparently issued at the request of the TSA, cancelled the […]