IFR Magazine

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: …

IFR reader feedback from January’s issue. Covers ICAO flight plans, Class D airspace handoffs, TSO requirements, and runway approach authorization.

With the likes of Uber, arranging ridesharing in automobiles via the Internet is common in todays hi-tech culture. Not so with similar programs to share private airplane seats. If you follow aviation news from sources like AVweb, youre undoubtedly at least aware that Flytenow, Airpooler and similar services using the Internet to unite pilots with passengers willing to share expenses have been shut down by the FAA. The FAA essentially claims that the use of the Internet magically makes that a commercial activity.

I am tired of the rant: These technologically advanced cockpits-these GPS toys-are making us lazy idiots, slave to the magenta line. Next comes the back in the day bit about how we used to fly full-procedure NDB approaches in the rain with quartering tailwinds-both ways. If these computer kids would just turn off those screens and fly VOR needles and a mental map, theyd be such better pilots.Gimme a break. Thats like saying nobody drives a stick any more, so we ought to manually shift our automatic transmissions to be better drivers. Given that in some cases now the only possible navigation is by GPS, its like saying manual shifting would make better Prius drivers when they dont even have 3, 2, and L to select.

Theres perhaps some confusion among pilots about how a direct route gets handled and, potentially, mutated, as illustrated in one IFR-readers question: If you file direct, is your route planned by some poor guy at the local TRACON or a regional computer? To what extent does putting in a few fixes affect the route ATC gives you? Lets see if we can clear up that haziness.

For those of us flying IFR in locations with a high probability of a white Christmas each year, we often need to recalibrate our aeronautical mindset from summer. We have to switch our weather default from Where are the thunderstorms? to Where is the ice? Winter brings us more challenging preflights, engine starts and airport operations. Even though we are all experienced instrument pilots, its still worth taking a few minutes to think about cold weather operations as we head into the worst of the season.

Each year we pause in the quest for aviation excellence to examine those whove boldly gone where others with a mere dram of sense wouldnt. This review covers 2012, the most recent year for which the NTSB offers probable cause to improbable silliness. Only non-fatal events are covered because we assume its bad form to ridicule the dead. Contestants are limited to the USA, because, hell, we invented flight, even though France claims the naming rights. Plus, few other countries offer our freedom to fail.

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