VFR

When the airplane entered the clouds, there was no turning back.

Standing on the ramp, glancing at Runway 17/35 at North Houston Airport (9X1), I took a deep breath as I ticked off items on the preflight checklist for N9271U, the 1976 Cessna 150M that had been my primary trainer so far. The brutal heat and humidity of the Houston-area summer had not yet set in, […]

In August of last year, a 125-hour pilot rented a Piper Arrow in Palm Beach, Florida. The rental agreement the pilot signed included a proviso that “there are not to be any night flights to or from the Bahamas or Florida Keys before sunrise or after sunset.” Notwithstanding the advice of one’s parents, one may […]

One of the biggest pleasures of flying airplanes is the freedom it provides. It is not only the ability to go virtually anywhere at any time that excites, but it’s also the ability to explore things you have never seen before from a bird’s-eye view. Part of the joy of flight is discovering some intriguing […]

“It’s that lake right … there,” he said. When he removed his finger from the chart, all I could see was a mass of hundreds of lakes. It was to be our briefing for the flying adventure of a lifetime, but it was occurring in a restaurant bar, and it was clear that by the […]

As a relative newbie to flying in “weather,” I am impressed when I fly along VFR with more seasoned pilots in haze that would scare me if I were alone. “It’s just haze, with a good 5 miles of visibility,” I am often told. But looking straight ahead through 10 miles of mild haze is […]

“You just flew through a military training route.” The controller was agitated. Since whatever had happened had happened, and we were already within 10 miles of Thermal’s nontowered airport, John told the controller we were leaving his frequency to get airport advisories. John then switched our transponder to 1200, the VFR squawk, and changed frequencies. […]

One of the most-often busted federal aviation regulations is VFR cloud clearances. That’s because pilots often have a hard time judging how close they really are to clouds. We all know that in Class E airspace below 10,000 feet msl we need at least 3 statute miles of visibility and must remain 500 feet below, […]

Even with a stone-age /U-equipped airplane, I have always preferred to file IFR for most flights. That’s for a number of reasons familiar to all instrument pilots. In order of priority, the top four are: traffic advisories; not having to worry about TFRs or other restricted airspace; no bobbing and weaving over, under and around […]

June 2010 NOT ALL THAT long ago even the best full-motion jet simulators had very basic visual presentations that were restricted to nothing more than a view straight ahead through the windshield. Most simulators had a television-style screen mounted in each pilot’s windshield, and you couldn’t really see anything except the display on your side. […]