Instrument Flight

Aviation weather columns typically talk about hazards in terms of elements: “Watch the 0 to -20 degrees C layer for icing.” “Be cautious of wet, clear nights because of fog,” etc. We can always learn more from a change in perspective, and we can do so using surface charts from the Aviation Weather Center website. […]

It seemed innocuous enough—an email from Nathan Richards, Ph.D., a reader of our sister publication, IFR magazine, asking if someone would be interested in flying a Learjet in-flight simulator as part of a project his employer, Barron Associates, was doing on upset recovery. I wasn’t sure what an in-flight simulator was, but I’ve been very […]

I like the Black Knight scene in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Black Knight is getting beat in a sword fight by King Arthur and losing one limb after the other. He won’t admit he might be in over his head, instead he tells King Arthur, “Tis but a flesh wound.” […]

I recently had a beautiful IMC flight on which I relearned how wonderful our capability to operate in the IMC world is. It’s easy to lose that awe for the beauty of our environment and the utility of the machines at our disposal as we move safely through this environment. Such is the stuff of […]

AVweb speaks with Paxton Calvanese, maker of the wx24 Pilot app for iOS products, about long-distance flight planning for light GA aircraft, teaching pilots a new way to view weather and future data visualization products. Two key feature of the wx24 Pilot app are its annular presentation of 24 hours of TAF data, including overlapping […]

In many conversations with instrument instructors, I’ve noted a common concern about the way many pilots conclude practice precision approaches (ILS or GPS LPV) under the “hood”: They do a great job of keeping the needles near the center as decision altitude nears; airspeed, descent rate and heading all would be appropriate. But when the […]

It had been a busy flight with some heavy weather for a Cessna 182. I was anticipating the final vector for the ILS and fumbling with the tablet’s presentation of the approach plate (I had vowed to make friends with the electronic flight bag). The realization that the sound had unexpectedly changed brought me back […]

Truth is often stranger than fiction. Perhaps that’s why reports from the Aviation Safety Reporting System are so compelling. There is a lot to be learned by reviewing the mistakes other pilots have made—and who then lived to tell us about them. Here are some recent ones that have several critical learning points. Attitude Indicator […]

The FAA has pushed back by a week the effective date of new rules allowing increased use of enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS) during takeoff and landing. In a Federal Register notice issuedWednesday, the agency said it is delaying the effective date “to allow for the review of this final rule in accordance with the […]

Perhaps you’ve seen the widely distributed aviation video 178 Seconds to Live. The narrative starts: “The sky is overcast and the visibility poor. That reported five-mile visibility looks more like two and you cannot judge the height of the overcast. . .” It continues: “. . . You find yourself unconsciously easing back just a […]