Flight Planning

The National Weather Service has begun a series of major upgrades to its computing power that should provide a “quantum leap” in forecast capabilities, the agency said recently. “Whizzing through 213 trillion calculations per second, newly upgraded supercomputers … are now more than twice as fast in processing sophisticated computer models to provide more accurate […]

Whilst flying back from Belfast to Blackpool in the U.K. several years ago, I heard a GA pilot behind me cleared for take-off by the tower. The tower then reminded him of the local noise regulations. The pilot replied that he understood and added helpfully that he would only be using one engine in this […]

Seventeen-year-old student pilot McKenzie Morgan, while flying part of a long cross country Tuesday, crashed the Cessna 172 she was flying in mountains near Meeteetse, Wyo., not far from a cabin once owned by Amelia Earhart and, fortunately, within sight of two hunters. Morgan told reporters she had become disoriented, flying in nearly the opposite […]

It has happened about 50 years ago at the old Munich airport in Germany. The date was August 15, a Catholic holiday called Maria Ascension Day. In those days, there were often quiet moments over the radio. In one of these silent moments, a booming voice came over the R/T: Unidentified Pilot:“This is Maria, still […]

As AirVenture 2013, ForeFlight was showing off the latest version of its popular app, and it now includes Canadian charts, a unique plate overlay feature, and helicopter charts for U.S. pilots. In this AVweb Product Minute, ForeFlight’s Jason Miller gives us a tour of the app’s new high points. view on YouTube

A quick follow-up with a former podcast interviewee, RV-8 builder Brent Owens, finds him engaged in a new endeavor — an online blog (FixedWingBuddha.com) dedicated to sharing tips on keeping flying affordable. Duration: File Size: download here

No one needs to tell you that air traffic congestion can delay issuance of your IFR clearance or cause you to suffer the dreaded Hold for IFR Release call with an indefinite departure time while the Hobbs goes tick, tick, tick. NextGen, the FAAs wide ranging overhaul of the Air Traffic Control System, is supposed […]

The annual adventure trip to Arizona with my buddies would have been better if we could fly around the desert in a rented Cessna as we planned. An important part of that plan included my checkout and endorsement to rent the FBOs Skyhawk. Unfortunately, scheduling the checkout turned out to be more difficult than I […]

Overheard one evening as a Fayetteville, North Carolina controller was working with a Cessna that was requesting flight following. The Cessna had problems with a fussy transponder and the controller was attempting to help. After several exchanges: Tower:“N1234, I’m still getting an inconsistent transponder return. Confirm squawking 4567.” Cessna:“N1234 squawking 4567.” Tower:“N1234, transponder return is […]

German researchers have developed a system that uses lasers mounted on aircraft to “see” clear air turbulence ahead of the plane. At the German Aerospace Center DLR Institute of Atmospheric physics, researchers have designed a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) instrument for that purpose. It sends a beam of short-wave ultraviolet laser radiation into the […]