On the Air

She thought that I was text messaging her from my soon-to-crash plane. Her panic wasnt helped by recalling an incident a few years ago when we took off with a fully loaded airplane into low IMC and lost our turbo controller. Of course we didnt know what was causing the power loss until we were on the ground, but the manifold pressure did stabilize at exactly 15 inches.

Cirrus Aircraft officials had been hoping to deliver the first SF50 Vision jet by the end of last year, but the company said in January that schedule has stretched to sometime in the first half of this year. Mooney International Corp.s M10T proof-of-concept model completed its first flight, in December, from Chino Airport in California. The M10T, unveiled in 2014 at the Zhuhai Airshow in China, is aimed at Chinas flight training market, and will be manufactured there. The FAA launched its drone registry in late December, and within the first three weeks, about 180,000 drone users had registered. In the NTSBs annual list of most-wanted safety improvements for aviation, loss-of-control accidents repeated from last years choice for general aviation. Anticipating that Congress will consider changing how the FAA is funded in this years spring session, 15 general-aviation advocacy groups signed a letter in December asking the U.S. House to hear their real and long-standing concerns about the expected proposals.

After over 18 years in development, Honda Aircrafts first airplane, a twin-engine single-pilot light jet, received FAA certification in December. When the FAA opened their drone registry in December, they succeeded in getting plenty of media attention, but they had less success getting the entire user community on board. In November, the SkiGull, Burt Rutans 47th (and last, he said) aircraft design flew for the first time, from a lake in Idaho. The one-of-a-kind two-seat seaplane is equipped to land on water, runways or snow. Private pilots can let their friends chip in for gas under the FAAs rules, but that doesnt mean they can advertise online to fill empty seats on a private plane and cost-share, the FAA has said. JetBlue announced in November it plans an ab-initio training program for its Embraer SA E190 crews.

On a musical note and for enjoyment of all the Parrotheads, Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI) recognizes avid pilot and aircraft owner Jimmy Buffett in the BUFIT ONE RNAV DEPARTURE which has waypoints JIMEY and BUFIT. Luca F Bencini-TiboWeston, FL Flying IFR southbound from a private airstrip near Sudbury, Ontario, I had the following exchange with Center: …

Reader’s accounts of their funniest, cleverest, worst, best, or proudest moments in flight. Send us your cleverest (or most embarrassing) moment on the radio-or your favorite fix names or airport names-with a subject of OTA, to IFR@BelvoirPubs.com. Be sure to include your full name and location.

I file IFR in the Los Angeles Basin because it makes things easier transitioning the complicated airspace. Usually, ATC likes to leave you high over the Ontario traffic and then slam dunk you into Santa Ana.

While on a flight over San Francisco enroute to Napa Valley during a Presidential TFR in the Bay Area, I heard the following:Bonanza: Bonanza 1234 checking in, enroute for Palo Alto.NorCal Approach: Bonanza 1234, Palo Alto closed due to TFR delay. Suggest select alternate or vectors for a hold.

After accepting an approach clearance while in the soup, I let out loud to myself, Yea-Ha! as I turned to intercept the inbound course. Twenty seconds or so later, the controller let me know I had been clogging up the frequency with a stuck mic. Oops.

While on a night freight flight to El Paso descending in the early morning, the sleepy controllers were working the only aircraft in the area-me. Approach: N1234, traffic at 12 oclock and 10 miles. Could be an aircraft or a truck driving up the mountain. Me: I am impressed you can see a truck on your radar. No one can sneak up on you. …

Many years ago I was riding in the jumpseat on a Southwest Boeing 737 from Las Vegas to Burbank. The crew was looking for a shortcut to get relief from our elaborate routing. The best routing was to the HEC (Hector) VORTAC. The crew called: