System

Just Let DownAs an instrument student, thank you for a great magazine. I especially always look forward to the Killer Quiz. But the Canadian rules also have another twist. CARs 602.73 says “A pilot-in-command may file an IFR flight itinerary instead of an IFR flight plan where the flight is conducted in part or in […]

My student and I were on an IFR flight. Nearing our destination, it occurred to me that we hadn’t heard from ATC in a while, so I called them. No answer. I opened the squelch and tried again. Nobody home. Could we both have missed a radio call? I tried calling ATC on the frequency […]

A flying friend of mine likes to say that you know you’re into something interesting when you have to sign a waiver beforehand. In the IFR world, I tend to think of approach procedures having an alphabetical suffix, such as RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 01, the same way. Whenever you see one of these, something […]

At my day job flying airliners I get a lot of idle time for my brain. To avoid the clich of that becoming the devil’s workshop, I try to occupy myself with deep thought. I’m not often successful, but on a recent rather long leg, I was. I’d just reviewed the sensor data for our […]

In spring 2003, I was halfway through my flight training. My instructor and I were chatting about air traffic control. He’d just visited the local TRACON. From his description, I pictured a dark room filled with the intense chatter of men and women half-lit by radar scopes and blinking sci-fi lights. A few short years […]

Last spring, Garmin made a declaration of sorts. It introduced an aggressive new line of inexpensive avionics for experimental aircraft. This said, in effect, even 800-pound gorillas have to compete in a new market where avionics prices are dropping, due in part, to pressure from tablet computers and ever-more-capable apps. Within two weeks of Garmin’s […]

One of the things I see often on IFR stage checks and IPCs is a lack of familiarity with the different kinds of GPS approaches and their respective capabilities and idiosyncrasies. Introduction of Localizer Precision (LP) approaches has made that worse. Given that the U.S. has over 12,000 GPS approaches, it’s time we mastered the […]

Long the purview of sophisticated flight data recorders available only to airlines, many of the popular integrated TAA systems being installed today can record all the critical-and embarrassing-data about your flight. Activating a data logging feature typically calls for little more than inserting a memory card in a slot; the machine does the rest. …

Controller guidance for getting an aircraft onto an approach was a hot topic at a recent Air Traffic Procedures Advisory Committee meeting of various organizations of pilots and airlines. Previously, there were two basic ways to join an approach, 1) Fly the full procedure starting from a charted route, feeder route, or Initial Approach Fix […]

You got a visual approach on your arrival this morning. You even canceled IFR ten miles out, and enjoyed a pleasant VFR ride to the runway. Now the AWOS is reporting low ceilings and two miles of visibility, requiring an IFR departure clearance. You’re a damp mess as you preflight, thanks to the drizzle drifting […]