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A bicycle (or electric scooter, or one wheel, etc.) is definitely a good thing to have at AirVenture. Not for the exhibit area itself, but to get to and from the campsite, and to get around in the evening after the shuttles and trams stop operating. A bike is also helpful for the occasional...

Sheppard Air is a great program to prepare for the knowledge test - I have used it myself several times, but I would not suggest to start there. As you mentioned, its exclusive objective is to memorize test answers, not to provide background or explain anything. It's a good tool to help achieve...

As you said, the topic gets no attention in training. After passing the instrument practical test, the typical newly-rated pilot has just spent several months learning that getting close to a runway means flying a published instrument approach. Instrument training is quite different from...

Right. The one thing which is worse than having no GPS position available is to have an incorrect GPS position - and not know about it. Certified avionics equipment (GPS, EFIS, ...) goes out of their way to ensure there is no display of misleading erroneous data. Consumer electronics doesn't -...

I remember reading Les Abend's column in Flying every month. I very much enjoyed the well-written insight into the world or airline flying. - Martin

The Beechcraft Heritage Museum is worth a visit any time of the year, but if you can align it with the annual Beech Party in October, you'll have guided tours and experts on site to make it even better. - Martin

Which one would end up being your primary attitude indicator? That's the one for which you'll need to consult its install manual, for it will tell you what backup instruments are needed. Side note: Between the G5 and GI-275, the GI-275 has a much nicer display with higher resolution, better...

An emergency is an emergency, whether you have declared it to somebody else or not. - Martin

It only shows that extra ring if you've configured the GTN to display a mix of regional and CONUS weather received from FIS-B. If you select one or the other, it'll go away. - Martin

Not if you also have a VOR/ILS receiver. That's the point some of us are trying to make here. Outages happen. Not frequently and not across the entire nation (in the US, at least), but they do happen. - Martin

And how would that help in case of an issue with the GPS constellation? You'd still have all your eggs in one basket. - Martin

I would have gone at any altitude they assign. I had heard that T319 over KATL is meant for 5,000' and 6,000' MSL. You can absolutely go VFR over KATL with a Bravo clearance. In fact, I did in this video, at 4,500' MSL. - Martin

Recently I flew to Falcon Field (KFFC), just south of the Atlanta Class Bravo airspace, and I was itching to find out if I could get a chance to enjoy scenic aerial views of downtown Atlanta and Hartsfield International airport. My plan was to fly the Tango route T319 which crosses KATL north to...

That's right. Gardner Lowe Aviation Services at KFFC. Wonderful people! - Martin

I stopped in Nashville, TN on the way to Falcon Field (FFC) last Sunday. I had flown over BNA many times, but never landed there before. So I wanted to check it out. Here is the video of that flight. Later today I'll be flying home to Iowa, with the benefit of the full digital autopilot...

The FBOs at MDW will give you a ride to the CTA train station at the passenger terminal. You can ride the Orange Line into downtown from there. - Martin

John gave a great answer above. "AR" (authorization required) raises the bar; instead of RNP 1.0 for which the Garmin GTNs do support RF legs, RNP AR goes down to 0.3 or even 0.1 NM. There just isn't much room for error, even if (or maybe I should say especially if) something goes wrong, like a...

Better yet: Make it required viewing for everyone at the FAA who deals with NOTAMS. - Martin

Yes, that absolutely makes sense for IFR flying. GPS availability is pretty good in North America, but it's not perfect. And who knows what it'll be like in five or ten years. I believe having at least one VOR/ILS receiver is essential for serious instrument flying. - Martin

Interesting. Listening to liveatc.net at any of the big airports in the US, I still hear "cleared ILS approach" or "join the localizer, cleared visual approach" most of the time. I agree RNAV and RNP approaches are increasingly used in the airline world (more so in some places in the world, less...