Technique

Some of you are already yawning, thinking to yourselves, With GPS and moving maps, who needs VHF nav anyway? To an extent, thats a valid argument, especially regarding VORs. But, there are still a lot of localizer and localizer back course approaches out there, and you may have to fly one. You shouldnt entirely dismiss VHF navigation just yet.

After nearly 10 years of lobbying by general aviation advocacy groups, the FAA in March released a draft proposal aiming to overhaul light aircraft certification. Aviation authorities in Europe released their final report in March on last years fatal Germanwings flight, concluding that airline officials couldnt have done anything to prevent the crash, since nobody told anyone at the airline that first officer Andreas Lubitz was suffering from mental-health problems. Women in Aviation International held their annual conference in March, in Nash-ville, Tennessee, with more than 5000 people attending. Responding to a shortage of pilot applicants for entry-level airline jobs, JetBlue has launched an ab-initio flight training program, the first of its kind in the U.S.

They almost made it. The aircraft was on a very short final when the nose started down. The flight crew pushed the thrust levers for both wing engines up to stop the sink but the left engine spooled up faster than the right engine and the aircraft started a turn to the right, from which there was no time to recover.

As a pilot you most certainly know that just about everything in aviation has a checklist. We controllers have our own checklists for a multitude of hazardous situations, unauthorized laser illumination included. I pulled up the appropriate checklist while the helo maneuvered.

We listen to the weather at KLEE. The winds favor Runway 13. We have the RNAV 13 approach loaded and ready to go. All we need is to be turned over to Orlando Approach on 121.1 to make our request.

Most of us have a shelf of books chronicling our flying. There are the books we used to learn to fly, obtain instrument and type ratings, and bundles of magazines. In there is probably a dog-eared copy of the Airplane Flying Handbook, and perhaps a few others in the FAAs long-running series of manuals. If you havent used them, or if it has been a while, its worth and a fresh look-especially now that theyre available online directly from the FAA.

Youre living the good life and working the system-the tax system. You work in Portland, Oregon, with no sales tax, but live across the river in Vancouver, Washington, with no income tax. So, you can at last afford that glass-panel bird. After flying it across the U.S. to bring it home, its finally time to load the last approach of the trip: The LDA-A into Pearson Field in Vancouver (KVUO). Except the approach isnt in the GPS database.

How does your GPS navigator handle a leg to a specific heading or to a specific altitude? Do you fly these with the confidence of Captain Picard of the Enterprise, or of Doctor Who pushing a button to see what happens? These legs are common, particularly as the first step on a missed approach: Climb runway heading to 1300, then …

It seems pretty obvious-start the procedure turn (PT) past the remain within fix and dont exceed the specified distance. But, there are other considerations such as having enough time and distance to make the FAF altitude inbound. Then, theres the Buchannan Field VOR Runway 19R approach at Concord, CA (KCCR). Here, the chart clearly shows that the procedure turn begins after HUKVI. Or does it?

Lessons came from all around the world. The instrument flying I learned applies almost 1:1 overseas. Yet, subtle nuances-often procedural-coupled with psychological perceptions of difference, did come to light. For example: While its one thing to be between stations over the Rockies, what about in Bangladesh?