IFR Magazine

Before I was an air traffic controller, I dabbled with computer programming. Both fields involve complex problems that are often broken down to simple if/then statements: if condition A is true, you do X. If condition A is false, you do Y. Thousands of these tiny statements may be the bricks of a massive application […]

Of all the features of the modern Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), perhaps the most useful is altitude preselect. It improves safety by reducing altitude busts and deviations. However, it can sometimes get you into trouble on the approach. Background Ever since Lawrence Sperry’s first autopilot in 1914, automatic flight control systems (AFCS) have continued […]

You can have too many choices, so many that decisions get delayed. It’s usually not a big deal for simpler matters like cruise altitude—estimate what’s best and you can always amend it. But when it comes to approaches and landings on a given runway, the choices are complex and require quick thinking. Throw in VMC, […]

As GA aircraft fly higher and higher, the risk of hypoxia increases. In August and September 2014, a Cirrus SR22T and a TBM 700 with two aboard were lost. Most recently, a Cessna 560 Citation was lost with five aboard. Hypoxia is a suspected cause. Hypoxia is a state of oxygen deficiency in the body […]

I flew out of Boeing Field in Seattle and was assigned the CBAIN departure with fixes: GNEXX, KURRT, and CBAIN. If you depart in the opposite direction you might get the NRVNA departure (just the one fix, “NRVNA”). It doesn’t get much more Seattle than that! Eric Berman Woodinville, Washington As a controller, I occasionally […]

At first look, the title VOR or GPS RWY 13L/R approach [A] presumes a straight-in approach to two runways or that the final approach course alignment is 30 degrees or less to the runways. But look again. There is approximately a 90-degree difference between the final approach course and the runway headings; it is neither […]

• Altitude Preselect
• JFK’s Canarsie Approach
• Quiz: Hypoxia
• Challenging Upgrade
• Mixing It Up
• Wind Shear

• Editor’s Log
• Unicom
• Parallel Runways
• Altitude Sickness
• Weather Sensors
• Accident Probe
• NTSB Reports
• Learning Experiences
• Squawk Box

Autopilot Coupling NA? See the KSTS ILS Runway 32 approach. It states that autopilot coupled approaches are NA below 1038 feet. DA is 380 feet. Why the prohibition on autopilot use? Tim Massey Kentfield, California The navigation information you see (CDI/VDI) is heavily damped. The raw signal sometimes bounces all over the place—less so with […]