Flight Planning

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

The Alliance for Aviation Across America has grown from a small advocacy group to a national force in setting aviation access policy, particularly in rural America. AVweb’s Russ Niles spoke with Selena Shilad, the group’s executive director. Duration: File Size: download here

Legally, 14 CFR 91.123 says, When a pilot is uncertain of an ATC clearance, that pilot shall immediately request clarification from ATC. Seems easy enough, but under pressure of time, heavy weather and busy controllers we are tempted to assume that ATC knows its intentions and to accept a clearance as given. Egregious errors appear […]

The following takes place at a high-altitude sector with multiple air carrier aircraft: Pilot 1(apparently meaning to talk to the passengers) :“This is the flight deck. Air traffic control has – uhh -” [unkeys] ATC:“Darn. I wanted to hear that.” Pilot 2 (cheerfully) :“Yeah. He was gonna blame you!” Cheryl Bavistervia e-mail