Technique

Although hurricanes are easily avoidable since they usually move to the front of the national news cycle, its good to have a working knowledge of them. One day you may find yourself caught in outer spiral bands as you try to move your plane out of danger, or your area may be the new target of a hurricane that deviates unexpectedly. Or perhaps you simply find yourself in the Caribbean in the late summer months with erratic Internet access-possibly a fortunate situation.

I took off from Islesboro (an island off the coast of Maine) in a C-150. I was going south down the coast that took me through the Portland ATC area. I then realized that I was going to fly over Moodys Diner in Waldoboro. This diner was made famous by Maine comedians Bert and I, and again later by Tim Samples.

Jeppesen is updating symbology for STARs and SIDs charts. As part of the change, Jepp contracted with an outside firm to conduct an operational risk analysis. After an in-depth evaluation of the mitigation possibilities TRS recommended to Jeppesen to create a training tutorial.

The King Air was descending out of 15,000 feet when he checked in with me. My radar scope was already peppered with growing blue and green areas of moderate and heavy precipitation, and I was buckling down for what was sure to be a crazy session. Storm season was here with a vengeance.

Ill admit it: I enjoy searching out some little-known gems in the regulations. Some, of course, are items we should know-but often dont. Others are almost so esoteric that it simply might not matter to most of us.

Flight schools are finding it hard to retain instructors because airlines are hiring them away, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accounting Office. Schools also find it challenging to recruit new students, due to the high cost of training. Also, the Helicopter Association International, in a study undertaken with the University Of North Dakota, projected a shortage of more than 7600 helicopter pilots by 2030. Helicopter mechanics will become even scarcer, with a shortage of 40,613 predicted in the U.S. by 2036. Bills aimed at supporting aviation workforce development have been introduced in both the House and the Senate over the last several months.

I bought my 2003 Ovation a couple years ago primarily for its flight in known ice certification (FIKI). Frequent trips to the Milwaukee and Philadelphia areas to see grandkids mean occasional exposure to ice. Id never flown with FIKI. My first use last year was very encouraging; climbing out of KUES through an icy layer into the clear we accumulated maybe 1/8 on the landing lights and wing tips but nothing anywhere else. However, I subsequently found and fixed multiple fitting leaks.

Have you recently looked closely at the airspace system we have to navigate today? Spurious TFRs pop up randomly, and its only getting worse. I dont have to worry about any of that. I file what I want and if ATC doesnt want me there, they, uh, tell me where to go.

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Getting weather info in flight has gotten cheaper due to FIS-B (ADS-B In). However, years before the FAAs eventual roll out of FIS-B and its array of free weather-information products, the dominant player in that industry was Baron Services though XM Radio. Sirius radio offered a competitive product from WSI. Eventually, Sirius and XM merged. The leading hardware was probably Garmins GDL 69 and 69A receivers getting XMs Baron offering.

As students of aviation, we are familiar with our regulations, the AIM, Advisory Circulars and other instructional, regulatory and best practice FAA guidance publications. But questions remain about whats legal. One sure, but unpleasant way to answer them is to attract the FAAs enforcement apparatus. This begins with your friendly neighborhood Aviation Safety Inspector, and can lead to suspension or revocation orders, plea bargaining, trials and appeals with the NTSB, and ultimately, the federal courts. There is a better way.

There could be any number of causes for an oversight. Maybe a controllers just been plugged in too long on a busy day, getting his head kicked in by nonstop, complex traffic. Short staffing means theres no break anywhere on the horizon. Oh, and hes got to pee. Ive been that guy. Its not fun being tired, distracted, and inundated with airplanes.