IFR Magazine

New Misfueling Guidance Issued Transition to unleaded aviation gasoline led the National Air Transportation Association to issue new guidance on preventing misfueling aircraft. Misfueling most commonly happens when piston twins are filled up with JetA. There is concern that the varying grades of unleaded fuel appearing at airports could lead to aircraft needing high-octane fuel […]

Garmin GPS navigators can use either of two databases for en-route and terminal navigation. Both are available through Garmin; one is a Garmin product and Jeppesen provides the other. We naturally assume that the two databases are similar, and in most cases they are—but not always, as I recently learned. Most of us consider it […]

More Ways Up I have to disagree with Douglas Boyd’s statement in his November article, “Which Way Is Up?” that you have to choose between track up and north up. Ever since I got ForeFlight, I had my 530 on track up and my kneeboard iPad on north up. I consulted whichever one could answer […]

Every year, the Aviation Safety Reporting System staff selects 50 of the most profound reports in a category, here Controlled Flight Toward Terrain, and publishes them. For 2022, eight relate to IFR the GA way. Lightly edited for clarity and grammar, let’s learn from their mistakes. Who Said What? A CFII was conducting training with […]

Holds are the bane of many pilots’ existence. The variety of helpful and not-so-helpful tips, tricks, and other “aids” tells us how big a problem it is. Fortunately, most of us eventually figure out that published holds are easy. A picture tells a thousand words. Unless we are a little OCD about that 70/20 section, […]

Altitude is aviation. From a simple paper airplane to the recently launched Artemis, anything that is above ground and moving has altitude and is essentially aviating. With altitude so important, how important is it for pilots to comply with altitudes, whether ATC assigned or from the regs or AIM? Yeah, It’s Critical Simple answer is […]

While we train for the essential ability to fly approaches to minimums, that’s not always enough preparation for real-life weather, which can conjure up things that don’t fit neatly into the ceiling/visibility numbers on the charts. Sometimes it’s not clear: Am I at those minimums? Do I have the visual minimums to cancel? Should I […]

We had just received our handoff from SoCal Departure to LA Center after departing Palm Springs International in our Praetor 500. We hadn’t even had a chance to check in when we heard this exchange: N1AB: “… requesting direct destination.” LA Center: “Who… who was that?” N1AB: “N1AB requesting direct to our final destination.” LA […]

Yesterday, I had what’s probably my most “interesting” GA experience. It’s mid-December 2022 as I write this. Recall a nasty storm hit the middle of the U.S. with a north-south line of extreme weather that spawned tornadoes down south and blizzards up north? It even killed some folks. If I’d been bolder (more foolish) and […]

Single Pilot Plan Panned The leader of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says he thinks it will be decades before single-pilot passenger airline operations are allowed. Director General Willie Walsh said that despite the apparent push toward autonomous airliners with a human backup, he doesn’t see it happening anytime soon. “I don’t expect to […]