System

EAA hosted one of its busiest Oshkosh shows ever in July, with record numbers for aircraft arrivals and campers. Near-perfect weather for the entire week kept the airplanes flying. The show hosted for the first time a B-52, and an Airbus A350 XWB from the test fleet was open for tours. All the usual daily airshows, forums, and events kept visitors busy nonstop. Aircraft designer Burt Rutan returned after an absence of several years to talk about his new SkiGull amphibian design, and Icon delivered their first A5 amphib LSA to EAAs Young Eagles. Yingling Aviation, based in Wichita, debuted a new remanufactured 172, and Vulcanair, from Italy, introduced a newly FAA-certified twin turboprop.

In the not-too-distant past, routes were so simple, werent they? It seemed like all you had to know was the difference between low-altitude Victor airways, and high-altitude Jet routes. These VOR-based routes shaded in black on enroute charts were joined by blue-shaded RNAV-based routes over a decade ago. Low altitude T-routes, high altitude Q-routes, and low altitude helicopter TK-routes have become quite common, and will likely eventually outnumber VOR-based routes. (Where an RNAV route is co-located with a VOR-based route, it is sometimes called a joint route.)

A pilot working on his instrument rating asked if it would be better to carefully plan a route or simply file direct. Some of his buddies recommended researching the route and filing via airways, while others suggested just filing direct and being done with it. Of course, for instrument students, the best resource is your instructor, but let us put this question into perspective.We now live in a world where its simple to navigate directly to any point on Earth. As recently as about 25 years ago, there was no question because there was no simple way to navigate distances direct. (VOR/DME-based RNAV filing was certainly a fun exercise though.)

Many services for flight planning provide ICAO options. I played around with a couple to see which ones are the most user friendly and caught errors. All of these services are free.

It only takes a cursory look at an ICAO flight plan form to get cranial blood-vessel spasms and the resultant migraine. Who starts a form at item seven? Yes, you really have to look up aircraft type codes in ICAO DOC 8643. Can equipment codes really use the whole alphabet, indecipherable by humans? Do they really have only one remarks box that serves as an explanation for nearly every other box on the whole form?Despite the forms flaws and seemingly unfathomable complexities, the FAA is committed to drag U.S. pilots to the ICAO flight plan. Since the ICAO form is already required for flights utilizing performance based navigation (PBN), flying in RVSM airspace, utilizing ADS-B services, and flights outside the U.S., everybody else might as well share the pain.

Around 1980, the FAA tried using adjacent approach control facilities to manage traffic through or within major metropolitan areas. The practice was dubbed tower enroute control (TEC), also called Tower to Tower. But these names are misleading because pilots on TEC routes never talk to tower controllers while enroute. Go figure.(The difference between TEC routes and other canned routes is that TEC routes never touch center airspace.)The Air Traffic Control Handbook defines TEC: the control of IFR enroute traffic within delegated airspace between two or more adjacent approach control facilities. This service is designed to expedite traffic and reduce control and pilot communication requirements. A good idea; lets see if theres any there there.

Old habits can be hard to shake. My familys got a nice DVR setup in our home, set to record all our favorite TV shows and save them digitally to its huge hard drive. Our last VHS deck made its way to Goodwill years ago. Nonetheless, I still find myself saying Im going to tape a particular show.

Yes, weve done a couple updates on ATC moderization recently. But the negative responses to editor Bowlins recent comments in favor of ADS-B suggest yet more information is needed. Plus, if you still think the 2020 deadline will get extended, well, the FAA is completing its tasks with an unfamiliar but refreshingly high speed and efficiency.

A number of years ago a friend called to tell me his chilling tale of a low-IFR departure in his turboprop. Shortly after takeoff, the controller warned him of an impending collision with a mountain range two miles ahead.

While the HSI was a game-changer for the instrument pilot by raising the bar on situational awareness, it introduced more avionics complexity, especially when connected to multiple nav sources. In failure mode, and for the pilot who doesnt know how to operate it, the instrument can be a killer. When I was a new avionics technician, Narcos DGO-series HSI system was the ground breaker. But, not all pilots fully understood what an HSI would do, and fewer yet understood how they worked. Thats somewhat true even today.

I read your editorial The Drones Are Here with interest. You asked the question When was the last time you flew below 400 feet away from an airport? My answer is: yesterday.As a seaplane pilot, I do this all the time over bodies of water. So do thousands of other seaplane and helicopter pilots. There is no way on earth that we would ever be able to see and avoid these tiny toy aircraft-at least not in time for the avoid part-and for sure, their untrained operators would not be likely to anticipate and avoid us. It is not a matter of if, but when someone will be killed by these dangerous drone operations. I guess our lives are less important than the interests of hundreds of thousands of drone hobbyists.

Uh oh! Halfway through an IFR cross country flight, it appears your instrument panel has suffered a couple deaths in the family: the attitude indicator, and the heading indicator. A glance at the suction gauge shows none. To top it off, you left your handheld GPS back in the car. Youre in VMC right now, but theres instrument weather down the road to your destination. A look at your charts shows a decent-sized airport about twenty miles off your right wing that probably has an A&P mechanic. Better to put it down now than get into some clouds without knowing which ways up. Unfortunately, a scattered cloud deck below is making it hard to pick out any landmarks. Not a good day.