On the Air

The HEVVN intersection lies roughly 10 miles off the coast of the Florida panhandle and connects the major flyways of the Florida Panhandle and the north-south air corridors of the Florida peninsula. Theoretically many aircraft can simultaneously be at HEVVN as long as they are separated by at least 500 feet in altitude.

My wife and I flew in our Cessna Cardinal from our home base at Dutchess County Airport to Wallkill, NY for dinner. After dinner, we took off VFR without talking to Departure, since New York is always so busy. We did a practice ILS to Runway 3 at Montgomery/Orange County, an airport not far south, and then started the few miles back home, skirting around the Class D at Stewart International.

When flying from from Osceola, Wisc., to Mattoon, Ill., on our way to Florida, the following conversations took place with Peoria Approach.Peoria Approach: Cherokee One One Two Seven X-Ray, descend and maintain 6000 for traffic.Me: From 7000 to 6000, One One Two Seven X-Ray.Approach: Baron Four Four Six Two Seven, climb and maintain 8000 for traffic.Baron 44627: Climb and maintain 8000. Six Two Seven.Approach: Bonanza Seven Seven Seven Kilo Zulu, you have a Cherokee at 6000 12 oclock and a Baron at 8000 10 oclock. Baron: It sounds crowded here.Approach: I only have three aircraft this morning and all of you managed to converge at 7000. So I have to move two of you.

I was westbound on a sunny day just south of Duluth, Minn., when the following conversation regarding situational awareness occurred:Delta 2234: Minneapolis Center, Delta Twenty-two Thirty-four. What is the large lake in front of me?Minneapolis Center: Uh, which one? Minnesota license plates do say, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Delta 2234: The one at my 12 oclock.Center (annoyed or flabbergasted, Im not sure): Uh, Lake Superior!Delta 2234: Oh, Wow!There was a brief period of radio silence likely due to Center employees rolling on the floor laughing and crying at the same time.

A pilot came in for his FAA physical. He was notably irritated. He flew in from Tyler, Texas, to my office in Kirbyville, Texas. He had just spent a fortune on his beloved C150-new Garmin panel, VGs, leather interior, tuned prop, and more.Enroute he heard the following exchange from ATC and traffic:Center: Bonanza 2131Z, turn right 20 degrees immediately.Bonanza: Right 20 degrees. Is there a problem?Center: Yes. Theres a Cessna 150 ahead. Hes backing into you!That was such a major ego deflation for the Cessna 150 owner that it seemed to ruin his whole day.

My brother is an air traffic controller here in our city. My father and I occasionally get the chance to be on frequency with him when his schedules and our flights overlap. Radio transmission quality makes it hard to know for sure if we are talking to him or not.

My wife and I were on final to Runway 16 at my home airport, Pickens County, Ga., when another airplane taxied onto the runway without communicating on the radio. With country-western music on the XM, I went missed and politely suggested over the radio that the offending pilot might use his radio, too.

The needle on my GA-o-meter registered an optimistic uptick this morning. In other words, Im getting more submissions for On The Air, IFRs much-loved back page. Over the past five years at the helm of this magazine (five years exactly with this issue), OTA has been my barometer for how much people are flying light GA and in what way.Theres a predictable uptick every spring and Im beginning to see it. History says it should peak in May and then spike again in August or September. Winter sees fewer submissions, and the ones that do come in are mostly from airline pilots or folks running all-weather aircraft.

Growing up in the land of conquistadors and cowboys, my opportunities for IMC involved attacking thunderstorms or slipping into shallow ponds of fog. Neither was good for gaining instrument time or icing experience. My instructors and peers shared the same background.

I was flying my Cirrus SR22TN into Boeing Field on the 13R ILS when the following happened:Me: N564JH. Intercepting 13 Right ILS.Approach: Cirrus 4JH, 8 miles from ISOGE, following a Citation 10, cleared for the approach. Contact Tower.Me: Tower, N564JH, ILS 13R.Tower: Cirrus 4JH following a Citation, slow to 120 knots for separation.The next week I had the same dialog behind a Falcon. Love those speeds.