Instrument Flight

The thoughts are succinct and paragraphs short in a conversation about some of the basic truths of staying alive, happy and well when flying. Okay, there might be a few opinions mixed in. Pushing It The weather is not going to get better in another five miles. If you are trying to scud-run, the weather […]

Bloomberg reported that Jeppesen could top Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg’s list of non-core assets being sold to shore up the planemaker’s balance sheet. Bloomberg, quoting unnamed sources, said the company is looking for $6 billion for the world’s largest provider of aviation charts and air navigation materials to help whittle down its $58 billion in […]

Congrats on your new instrument rating! You’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy accomplishing something only a very small portion of the overall population ever will. With your well-earned privilege comes great responsibility and flexibility in your flying, and possibly a rung in the ladder to some additional certificates. The thing is, though—perhaps […]

When I earned my instrument rating many years ago, it was common to add the notation “No SIDs, No STARs” in the comments block of an IFR flight plan. This was primarily because these procedures were published in a separate book from instrument approaches at the time, and it wasn’t common for private operators to […]

Since starting in 1984, I’ve logged over 1800 hours in more than 45 aircraft types. As much of this has been in the past four years under the employ of a major avionics shop, the recent experience factor provides a bit of confidence, especially since I’m quite familiar with most avionics offered today. A trip […]

In less than 25 years, the “miracle” of GPS transformed how even the smallest and least expensive aircraft navigates. Thanks to the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) in the U.S. and similar technologies deployed in other countries, GPS is more accurate, more reliable and more repeatable than what came before. If you need proof, look […]

Don’t you hate it when this happens? “November 12345, I have an amendment to your clearance…advise when ready to copy.” Then ATC gives you the barely pronounceable name of a waypoint you never heard of. You’re given a re-route around restricted airspace or a military operations area (MOA) that just went hot. Or you’re making […]

Part 91 gives us lots of discretion when it comes to choosing an approach, deciding if it’s legal (and safe) to continue, and then if it’s legal and safe to land. The caveat is that personal judgment, often in the heat of the moment, becomes the catchall for critical phases of flight. This makes us […]

Every instrument approach procedure we fly ends in one of two ways: We either see the runway environment and land, perhaps after circling to align ourselves with a runway, or we don’t. When we don’t, we fly a missed approach procedure designed to get the aircraft back to a safe altitude and position from which […]

On December 24, 2017, a Cessna 340 crashed at Bartow, Fla., during an attempted predawn IMC departure. All five aboard the airplane died. At the time this article was written, it was not yet known what factors, if any, beside the weather may have contributed to this Christmas Eve tragedy. Regardless, the circumstances should remind […]