Search Results for: general aviation inc

When GPS first entered general aviation cockpits nearly two decades ago, skepticism ran amok — trusting the “magic” of satellite navigation took time. Those flight educators who had a firm grasp of the real conundrum to come knew then what we face today: GPS is good, sometimes almost too good. There is growing weakness in […]

When inspectors met Orville and Wilbur for that first ramp check on the sands of Kitty Hawk, the brothers ran them off and then complained to the government because these inspector guys didn’t know much about flying machines. FAA management opened a file on the complaint, convened working groups, assigned committees, consulted with cost analysts, […]

EAA AirVenture should be prime selling season for ADS-B Out avionics needed to meet the FAA’s 2020 mandate, but a rebate program that takes effect in the fall could give buyers pause. Why buy now when after September they can be assured of receiving a $500 rebate check from the government? Here’s why. Several avionics […]

Just two days before the FAA’s current extension expires, the Senate passed the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016, a measure that will authorize FAA operations through September 2017. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law ahead of the FAA’s July 15 cutoff. A huge win for general aviation, […]

My right-seat passenger has become quiet, so I ask how she is doing. From our Cirrus, the view of the Mojave Desert seems infinite, and my question has interrupted her contemplation. “I’m taking it all in,” she explains while pointing her camera lens out the window. “I’ve never seen the desert from this angle before. […]

The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the proposed revision of Part 23, published by the FAA in March, is a remarkable document. During an election campaign in which the inability of Washington to get anything done is a central theme, the NPRM is a libertarian’s fever dream of deregulation. It’s hard to imagine how […]

Aviation is a small world; there are a limited number of topics on which one can write. Additionally, journalism is a specific enough trade that when you combine it with aviation, you have a very small world indeed. Thus, its inevitable that there occur certain overlaps and (gasp!) even certain duplications. Granted, this one innocently went too far, but just how many unique articles can be written about a single, odd approach without covering the same ground?

Certainly following the airways and the MEAs, and then descending over an initial approach fix or hold would be best. I was just thinking of a case when we werent on an airway, like between Keflavik, Iceland (BIKF) and Narsarsuaq, Greenland (BGBW). We wanted to make sure we were above the OROCA and MSAs for that area when we were descending. I guess we could have stayed at our filed FL170 until over the hold, but given that the airport is at sea level we wanted to start a prudently safe descent beforehand.

In the age of satellite navigation, electronic instrumentation and multi-function displays with moving maps, each aircraft is different. Just because you can fly an Avidyne Integra-equipped Cirrus doesnt mean you can jump into a Perspective (a.k.a. Garmin G1000) Cirrus. Or, for that matter, even an old steam-gauge Piper. Now we need proficiency not just on an instrument scan and IFR procedures, but on the installed devices as well.

First we got an e-mail from a reader concerned that Garmin was removing airports with runways under 4000 feet from their worldwide database. Next, a reader related a situation where hed been cleared direct to a fix that wasnt in his Garmin GNS 430, but it showed up when he loaded an RNAV arrival. These produced some internal discussions and one of our staff related a story from a friend of his whod busted a stepdown fix altitude because the stepdown fix wasnt depicted on the approach in his Bendix-King KLN-94.