Flight Planning

An Air New Zealand DC-10 en route from Auckland to Honolulu was about to pass the southbound company flight in the early morning hours, and its crew was chatting with another flight on the inter-plane frequency. In short order, a Qantas aircraft joined the conversation. A bit later, a USAF MAC aircraft called in as […]

Two airplanes took off from the same controlled airport right after each other — one a Cessna 172, the other a Cessna 182. The first off was the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, followed a minute or so later by his buddy in the Cessna 182. Both were headed for the same destination airport. Just before the […]

For most of us tooling around the airstrip and to the occasional pancake breakfast, the size of our fuel tanks doesnt matter. But when youre planning a longer flight, your aircrafts range becomes a consideration. Put another way, if you want to travel more than 500 nm, tank-size matters, and not all of us are […]

Our weekly survey of aviation news found the newest formal recognition of top aviation professionals, an aircraft now being offered for sale on Amazon.com, a survey reporting that hiring in aviation is expected to be up this year and FltPlan now offering Velocity Weather by Baron. Every year for the past 50 years, the General […]

Our weekly review of aviation activities noted on SocialFlightfound not just fly-in breakfasts, but a dinner, with seminar, and rides being given by EAA’s Ford Trimotor. The Sixth Annual Shamrock Fly-Inwill be held on Saturday, March 15 at Cannon Creek Airpark, Lake City, Fla. Running from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., food offerings include a […]

Pilot:“Center, N12345.” Center:“N12345, where have you been? We haven’t heard from you in a while.” Pilot:“I’ve been in Fort Myers for the last three months or so.” Center:“N12345 -“[Chuckles.]“No, you’ve been NORDO for the last 45 minutes; we haven’t heard a communication from you. When did you last speak to a controller?” Pilot:“I guess 45 […]

Our thanks to SocialFlight for its guide to what is happening in aviation around the country this weekend. To help celebrate Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, the Michigan Flyers flying club is holding an Open House on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Airport on Saturday, March 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is […]

Probably the most difficult task on the Instrument Rating (IR) practical test is Area VII, Task D: Approach with Loss of Primary Flight Instrument Indicators. But why is the FAA so interested in this? In their own words from the IR Practical Test Standards (PTS): The FA A is concerned about numerous fatal aircraft accidents […]

We love a pilot who accidentally says over the mic something everyone has thought at one time or another. When arriving at the first stop on our pilots association’s annual poker run, one of our pilots said on the frequency, for all to hear: “Geez. There’s more than one runway here. That makes it kinda […]

Late on a low-traffic night, an Ozark flight requested landing instructions into Des Moines, reporting his altitude as 6,000 feet. He was given clearance since no other traffic was in the area. After a few seconds, the Ozark pilot again called, saying:“Uh, that 6,000 feet — that shoulda been 5,000 feet. Gee, this thing’s got […]