Flight Planning

Background: In the C-141 at the time, there was a three-position switch on the right side of the yoke. Up was interphone, neutral was off, and down was transmit on the active radio. And in a USAF “crew-served” aircraft, you identify yourself by position when responding to a question or checklist item. (I.e., “Ready for […]

The deck of a cargo ship in the English Channel became a landing site recently for the pilot of a Foxbat Xtreme STOL airplane. The landing, caught on camera from several angles, was a carefully planned stunt by Dutch pilot Jaap Rademaker. “The ship was sailing at 9 knots speed over ground, the true windspeed […]

I was flying from EWR-DFW the week after the Texas-Oklahoma University football game (won by Texas this year). On the center frequency, an aircraft with the call sign “Oklahoma One” checked in, and after each conversation with center, they responded “Oklahoma One.” Finally, someone keyed the mic and said, “No, Texas won.” The silence was […]

The FAA Thursday released its UAS Roadmap and Comprehensive Plan to integrate unmanned aerial systems, or UAS (also known as UAVs or drones) in the national airspace. The release addresses current and future policies, regulations, technologies and procedures that will allow operation of unmanned aerial vehicles in the nations airspace with emphasis on extensive integration. […]

Recently I flew from Northern California to an airport Id never been to in the Los Angeles area. The flight was uneventful until about 35 minutes from the destination when Ireceived an amendment to my clearance. Amendments arent unusual in or around congested Class B airspace, but with modern electronic navigators, dealing with route changes […]

Three of the major players in the tablet navigation business say the new iPad products are fully compatible and are noticeably faster at getting information to the pilot. “ForeFlight Mobile version 5.4.4 (already available for download from the App Store) is fully compatible with the iPad Air,” said ForeFlight CEO Tyson Weihs. “The air screams […]

While flying in the “northwest practice area” about 10 miles northwest of Columbus, Georgia listening to Atlanta Approach, I heard this exchange: ATL:“Piper 123, we have you as a PA-28, but your airspeed suggests otherwise.” Piper 123:“No, we are a PA-34.” ATL:“O.K. I’ll update your plan to show you have an extra engine today.” Chris […]

Shanghai Hawker Pacific is China’s first FBO/MRO and is pioneering development of the nuts and bolts of the service side of business aviation in the country. AVweb’s Glenn Pew spoke with the company’s Carey Matthews at NBAA 2013 in Las Vegas. Duration: File Size: download here

The office that creates over a thousand nautical charts turned some heads in aviation when it announced on Oct. 22 that the end will come for paper nautical charts on April 13 and thereafter nautical charts will only be available through various methods of electronic distribution and print on demand. In response to the announcement, […]

Rockwell Collins brings enhanced vision to light jets with the EVS-3000 vision system and HGS-3500 display, which employs a new space-saving design. The company will bring the products to market with Embraer in 2015 aboard the Legacy 450 and, later, Legacy 500 business jets. view on YouTube