Pilot Proficiency

Lets start with the basics. In the cool season the North Pole is pointed away from the sun. As the polar regions lose solar heating and the days shorten, the atmosphere cools significantly, and we see a huge semi-permanent polar air mass covering much of Canada and northern Russia. Parts of it break off regularly as frontal systems and polar highs. The large expansion of the cold air mass boots the jet stream out of Canada, pushing it down into the United States.

One Friday I shot the GPS 7 approach into Gwinnett County, Georgia (KLZU). As I was briefing the approach, I wondered how I would pronounce CURAP, the FAF, if I was asked to report it. Thankfully, that situation did not arise since I was cleared for the approach earlier and sent over to Tower shortly thereafter.

I installed a G500 on the left-side flight panel. Wanting some real redundancy-not just backup-the limited space on the right panel was perfect for Aspens PFD. This way, if my G500 ever croaked, Id just hop over to the right seat and fly using the Aspen. That also had the advantage of giving any planned right-seater good PFD information should that ever be necessary. I was set.

Search-and-rescue delays after an airplane crash will become a thing of the past, with Aireons global satellite network in place, the company says. Aireon says the system will be ready to go online in 2019. As long as an aircraft is broadcasting on 1090 MHz ADS-B, we will be able to locate it anywhere worldwide, said Peter Kearney, CEO of the Irish Aviation Authority, one of the partners in the new system. General aviation users dont need to pre-register, but search-and-rescue teams can contact the company for location data. The rescue capability is offered as a free service to the aviation community, Aireon says.

Mr. Bencini-Tibos excellent article, Regulation Fine Points in July might possibly leave the reader thinking that the safety pilot could log time when the flying pilot was not under the hood. FAA Office of Chief Counsel makes it clear in a legal interpretation on this matter dated June 22, 2009 to Jeff Gebhart, that the safety pilot can log only that time that the flying pilot is under the hood. Since the flight is made in an aircraft that does not require a SIC the safety pilot was not a required crew-member during the time the other pilot did not have the hood on, so the safety pilot does not get to log anything during that portion of the flight.

It doesn’t much matter whether Boeing intended to set off a revolution in cockpit instrumentation when it delivered the first 767 in the early 1980s. That, of course, was the result when the new jetliner unleashed the first computerized cockpit displays destined to forever change the way pilots control and navigate aircraft. The new instrumentation […]

Here’s an emerging safety story that hasn’t received much attention: Fatal accidents caused by weather are declining. Nobody should be popping Champagne bottles just yet, but there is enough data to suggest a steady downward trend over the past few years. What’s the cause of this encouraging course reversal? There are probably many, but the […]

Recently, an iconic figure in the flying world celebrated his 80th birthday by soloing an Aeronca Champ — the very same Champ he first soloed on his 16th birthday in 1954. How sweet is that? This career airline pilot, author of numerous books, narrator of aviation programs and videos and, for 55-plus years, writer and […]

Some cravings are easily sated. A waffle cone of soft-serve ice cream, for example, or a hot greasy Big Mac (with a supersize side order of regret). Other, more deep-seated desires, however, seem only to intensify once indulged. Wanderlust is that way for me: The more that I see, the more I’m compelled to roam […]

The NTSB included among factors related to the accident the pilot’s overconfidence in himself—and the airplane.