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Only the Frequency Differs Answer 5 to the Quiz in February 2021 explains that “[f]iber-optic communication is light and not electromagnetic.” James Clerk Maxwell would disagree. Radio waves, light, and x-rays are all the same thing, just at different frequencies. (I don’t dispute that the light signal in the fiber-optical cable is unaffected by space […]

The plane was configured for landing with full flaps, a rich-enough mixture and the prop set for high RPM. I was decelerating from crossing the fence at 70 KIAS. As I pulled off some of the remaining power and began to flare, the bottom fell out about 25 feet above the runway. I already had established a nose-up attitude for the tricycle-gear airplanes touchdown, but our descent rate suddenly increased sharply as the gusty crosswind basically disappeared at the wrong time. To compensate, I pulled back on the yoke even more, increasing our pitch attitude in the hope doing so would compensate for the sudden loss of altitude and I could salvage a smooth touchdown. But it was not to be. For the first time in a long time, I really bounced the landing. Both main struts contacted the paved runway at the same time, compressed and then extended, pushing us back in the air. There we were, maybe six or eight feet in above the runway, with idle power and decaying airspeed. What to do?

Not every threat is directly controlled by someone on the ground. Some are just lazily drifting about, riding the winds, rising into the skies on their own. Of course, I’m talking about balloons. And not just party balloons either. Large balloons are used in many scientific fields, including meteorological research. An estimated 90,000 free balloons […]

The article covered how procedures can be unavailable for alternate planning, but what about those that are available, but require non-standard alternate minimums? The standard alternate minimums are simple: 600-2 for precision approaches, and 800-2 for non-precision approaches. But non-standard alternate minimums can seem quite complicated. Non-standard alternate ceilings and/or visibilities are published for an […]

When I learned IFR, the oddball technique for GA pilots was the DME Arc. These were the days of turn 10, twist 10, which was the best we had for approximating a curve using the straight-line navigation of VORs and slant-range distance. When GPS came on the scene, the box simply drew the magenta line in an arc and we, or George, followed it. An era was over.

A short IFR flight should be easier in a glass cockpit. Youve got all the information you need just a twist and a push away-so long as you know without thinking which knob to twist and which button to push.

Most thunderstorm-related accidents happen when departing or approaching the airport. Flying near the convective cloud bases exposes you to the most dangerous aspects of a thunderstorm. Reduced visibility, low ceilings, hail, strong straight-line winds and lightning are all possibilities, but more imperceptible hazards lurk.

[IMGCAP(1)]Question: What do pilots hate most of all? Answer: Check rides Question: Other than check rides, what do pilots hate most of all? Answer: FAA ramp checks Question: OK, other than check rides and ramp checks, what do pilots hate most of all? Answer: Thunders… Enough. What pilots hate, almost more than anything else are surprises. This might not be obvious, but think about it. If you know whats coming, youre prepared for it, but the unexpected requires…

Standing to get a closer view of my towers radar display, I said, That doesnt look right. Somewhere in the dense, ragged and choppy 300-foot overcast outside the tower windows, there was a Piper Matrix inbound on the ILS. Well, supposedly on the ILS. His target was crossing the final approach fix several hundred feet lower than published and a half mile to the right.

It used to be the procedure turn (PT) was the lynchpin of many an instrument approach. Youd track to the VOR or NDB station located on the airport, fly outbound, use a PT to reverse course, and fly back to the station on a specific course while descending to the specified minimum descent altitude. If you didnt visually acquire the airport, locating the missed approach point was a simple matter of identifying station passage.