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Rumor has it the new AC 90-119 (currently in draft state, out for comments) will officially designate RNAV LPV approaches to be precision approaches, at least as far as the FAA goes. I don't know if ICAO has anything similar on the horizon. - Martin

My experience flying in the US only goes back 25 years, but during that time a VFR flight plan is basically invisible to ATC. It's only visible to search-and-rescue. What people do at times to assist ATC with VFR flight following request is file an IFR flight plan before the flight, and then...

First of all, ATC should tell you how they expect you to join the arrival, and they should tell you which transition to use, such as: "N12345, proceed direct TTYLR, join the TTYLR3 arrival" - maybe that's what happened here? Then: When it comes to loading the arrival, the GPS units for some...

Some of these courses are actually quite good. One problem they cannot overcome is that there is a virtually unlimited number of combinations of avionics devices, and making one video to help pilots understand good ways to operate their equipment and diagnose and deal with failure conditions is...

I agree with that statement - there are tools available to help launch SAR much faster than a VFR flight plan can, like flight following, a modern ELT or a PLB. But there are also example of accidents where those other tools didn't work and a VFR flight plan could have saved people. I don't...

I did think about it. What creates wear and tear on an engine is primarily its temperature (hot metal is weak metal) and the pressure created inside the cylinders. Throttle setting is only one of many factors which determine temperature and pressure. Mixture, RPM and ignition timing are other...

I cruise with the throttle wide open, unless I'm very low and want to go slow for sightseeing. Many people pay extra for a turbocharger or turbonormalizer to increase the manifold pressure. The reduced atmospheric pressure at altitude is performance-limiting for my normally aspirated engine at...

Tells you how well I can remember things :D

Yes, that is where I took the checkride for the airplane rating. But now I wonder: How in the world do you know that? - Martin

Nice report and pictures - you flew right over the area where I grew up and learned to fly gliders back in the 1980s (EDLF). - Martin

Agreed - St. Augustine is worth a visit! Also, you might enjoy a low approach over the Space Shuttle landing strip at Cape Canaveral. Maybe combine it with a visit to the Kennedy Space Center. - Martin

Exactly! I don't care about the size of your iMac screens - instead: what problem are you trying to solve for me? Another thought: engage with people walking by, make eye contact, talk to them. I'm amazed how often employees are just looking at their cell phones or talking to one another...

Thanks for this link. Yes, descending doesn't make a difference - it's all about acceleration, or a downwards movement of your VSI (i.e. increasing rate of descent, or decreasing rate of climb if you started in a climb). - Martin

This is a conversation I recorded with Doug Rozendaal about stalls, stall speed and its relationship (or lack thereof) with bank angle. As Doug says, "sacred cow hamburger tastes best", so in that spirit we try to explain what is fact and what is myth. - Martin

KMCW (Mason City, IA) hosts an airport BBQ the third Thursday of every month. In July that is the Thursday before Oshkosh, and many pilots use it as a staging ground for flying to AirVenture a day or two later - which means a great turnout and a big party that night. Plenty of grass to park in...

I upgraded from an Arrow to an A36 Bonanza. 4 people and luggage in comfort, and more than enough useful load for that mission. No CG issues, either. Close to 200 mph cruise speed. More than 200 mph if you add a turbocharger or turbonormalizer. Not quite 1000 miles range with standard tanks...

Cool - see you there!

I'm riding my bicycle to Fisk again to see the controllers at AirVenture in action. It's an easy 9-mile ride (each way) from Camp Scholler. We did this in a small group in 2021 and a few more people joined in 2022. Sunday July 23, 2023 at 1:00 PM If you'd like to join, details (and RSVP) are...

Here's the latest installment from the Dr. Blue video series. This time we talk about alcohol and drugs, and also mental health - and how to get back into the cockpit after a bump in the road.

I don't blame you. For many pilots, their only touchpoint with an HSI was the questions and diagrams in the FAA written test. Those were designed to confuse the heck out of pilots, and frankly the FAA did a good job with that. In real-life instrument flying, the HSI is incredibly easy and...