IFR Magazine

Years ago I was flying my RV-4 in the narrow VFR slot between the old Washington ADIZ and the expanded Camp David TFR when I lost my GPS. Without a VOR receiver, I contacted Washington Center. The Call went as follows:Me: Washington Center, Experimental One Four Foxtrot Tango.Washington Center: Experimental One Four Foxtrot Tango, go ahead.Me: Ive lost all navaids over Frederick and Im concerned that I will violate airspace and cause a little excitement.…

Des Moines, Iowa, is busy enough to be interesting but laid back enough to be fun. I was approaching in my Cherokee Six with a King Air holding short:Tower (to me): Baron Eight Romeo Pop, cleared to land.Me: Well, I wish I was a Baron. Cherokee Eight Romeo Pop is cleared to land.King Air: I wish I was a 747. …

After cancelling IFR but still on my way into Providence, R.I.:Providence Approach: Skylane One Four One Whiskey Bravo, follow the MD80 to Runway 5.Me: Follow MD80 to five, One Four One Whiskey Bravo.Approach (after a couple minutes went by): Skylane One Four One Whiskey Bravo, are you following the MD80?Me: Affirmative, following the MD80. The squirrels are running as fast as they can.MD80: Providence, do you want us to slow down to let him catch…

Your editorial in the May issue, Looking for Eight More Lives, quoting from the Air Safety Institutes 2012 TAA Special Report, provides an example of how easily summary statistics can lead us astray. Different reports use different methodologies.

Steam (Gauge) PowerYour last editorial really resonated with me (“Black Ops for Black Boxes,” April 2012 IFR). I have been flying on and off for over 50 years, and almost always behind round gauges; sometimes not very many of them. When I bought my new Commander 114TC in 1999, I opted for what was then […]

March 2012 was another great edition. I enjoyed the discussion of the Santa Maria LOC DME (BACK CRS)-A approach (The Right Time to Descend), and I was happy to find that I agreed with your legal interpretation. However, I came to a different end conclusion.

Thanks for another great edition of IFR. I enjoyed the “Partial Panel with GPS” article. However, I have an issue with the “Getting the GPS Screens Right” sidebar. In my experience, pilots find it difficult to determine left from right if they are trying to fly numeric DTK and TRK. In general, I recommend against […]

Parkersburg Express from the January 2012 edition reminded how a similar T-type RNAV approach to Tupelo, Miss., gave me troubles when I was cleared to the IF/IAF (ARMRR) as I requested. The Tupelo approach is in a non-radar environment; I was coming from the southeast, and I was cleared direct ARMRR, maintain 4000 until ARMRR, […]

Best Foot ForwardI really appreciate the article by Chet Ludlow “Setting Limits in IMC” published in the December issue of IFR. With initial recurrency instrument students, I have taught this way for many years and found it most effective. However, even when I apply the maximums of Chet there is still a missing ingredient.That ingredient […]

Disregard that Glidepath“Familiarity Traps” was a very good article (October 2011 IFR), and one that a lot of us should learn from to develop our SOPs. I could make a strong argument to fly all approaches as published and not rely on anyone’s pseudo-glideslope, or advisory glideslope info, no matter what. And, as you clearly […]