Remarks

Space Traffic Jam Addressed The FAA says it will try to ease disruptions to air traffic caused by increasing numbers of space launches. Airlines complain that airspace closures raise routing challenges. The FAA has established guidelines “to optimize and equitably manage the airspace in the vicinity of launch sites.” Most disruption is in Florida and […]

General Aviation is quite safe, still largely due to the see-and-be-seen principle. Recent technology advances aid that mandate, but we still should see traffic to avoid it. Let’s take a survey: Raise your hand if you have some kind of electronic traffic display in your aircraft, either certified or portable. Hmmm… With an informal count, […]

Earlier this year, there were a number of near misses during airport operations. These included one aircraft nearly landing on top of another that was taking off while both were operating under an ATC clearance. Then an aircraft crossed an active runway without a proper clearance. The list goes on. As you might expect, I’m […]

Recently, my mechanic showed me the list of squawks I’d told him about in recent texts, phone calls, and even e-mails. At the top of the list, he’d added one important item, “Fix Frank.” In over 30 years of aircraft ownership, I’ve always tried to work with my mechanics to give them flexibility in the […]

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 […]

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 […]

Recently I helped a friend purchase a Cessna 340A similar to what I fly. He’s pleased with his purchase. In fact, when word got out, another local pilot who’s looking for a 340A approached me, and I’ve begun helping him, leading me to consider the process. This airplane is an upgrade for both pilots, so […]

Often I’ve railed against the inability of approved aviation training devices (sims) to mimic the aircraft we fly. If your panel has had any upgrades, you’ll generally not find a sim that comes close. This limits the value of sim training in maintaining proficiency for your aircraft. So, why not train in your airplane? Training […]

Recently I realized that there are VFR pilots, VFR pilots with an instrument rating, and instrument pilots. Which are you? Reading this, you are more likely to be in the latter category, or at least in the middle but aspiring toward the latter. Let me explain. We all know what VFR pilots are. They’re the […]

Watsonville, California, is where my Cessna 340 and I used to be based. It’s also where, as I write this, just a few days ago another Cessna 340 and a Cessna 152 unsuccessfully attempted to occupy the same place in the pattern at the same time. The resulting destruction of two aircraft and death of […]