Flight Planning

Sometimes I feel as if Lockheed-Martin Flight Services is the Rodney Dangerfield of aviation-no matter how sophisticated, cool and user-friendly its weather briefing and flight safety services become, pilots don’t seem to be paying attention. That being the case, I’ll say it up front: the free-that’s free-services Lockheed-Martin have for pilots are cutting edge, impressive […]

Last week, my wife and I heard this radio exchange while flying across Texas: San Angelo Approach:“Cardinal XXX, you got time for a quick question?” Cardinal XXX:“Sure.” SJT Approach (in a deep Texas drawl):“Is there somethin’ special about your flight today? Special cargo or something?” Cardinal XXX:“Nope.” San Angelo Approach:“They just have you on a […]

The aviation industry has been warned about the possibility of flight disruptions caused by activity at Iceland’s largest volcano system. Intense seismic tremors have been recorded at Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano for the past several days, although there are no signs yet of an eruption. Iceland’s Met Office has raised the risk level to the aviation […]

Our weekly review of aviation events on SocialFlightuncovered everything from a fly-in cookout through a Big Toy Day to a PilotPalooza coming up this weekend. Middlebury State Airport, Vermont, is hosting a cookout fly-in Saturday, Aug. 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Organizers report that burgers, hot dogs and more food will be served […]

During the early ’70s, Pappy Wilkes, a former Piedmont Airlines DC-3 captain, was flying a pressurized Queen Air 88 along the east coast of Florida. He had been cleared to climb to 15,000. Being hot and heavy, the 88 was very slow climbing. An impatient ATC controller asked Pappy when he expected to reach his […]

For the second time in less than three weeks, a small plane made a forced landing on a Sarasota County, Florida beach. Television station WWSB Channel 7 is reporting that just before noon Tuesday, the Air Traffic Control tower at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport called 911. A Pitts Special reported an engine power loss and landed […]

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has decided to exit the electronic flight bag (EFB) market-marking a change in its online flight planning member benefit. Responsibility for FlyQ EFB will be assumed by Seattle Avionics as of Sept. 1. AOPA and Seattle Avionics are reported to be working together to ensure all subscribers experience a […]

I was flying through New York’s air space one typical busy Friday afternoon. The controller on 124.07 was shotgunning instructions out to a dozen or more airplanes when a flight instructor grabbed the frequency and started requesting multiple practice approaches into Danbury (CT), thoroughly describing each missed approach and the path to the next approach. […]

We just looked at SocialFlight and confirmed that AirVenture exhaustion is a myth-it’s still summer and everything aviation is going strong-airshows, fly-in breakfasts and even a pig roast. The Pike’s Peak Regional Airshow takes place on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9 and 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Colorado Springs, Colorado, Airport. […]

Several years ago, a large jet flown by a famous British airline was approaching New York for a landing at JFK. They were still at their cruising altitude of FL 350 and had been asking New York Center for a lower altitude continuously for several minutes. New York Center was very busy and obviously had […]