Archive for June, 2009

VFR Flight Above the Clouds

By | June 24, 2009 | Flight Training | 6 Comments

A lot of VFR pilots talk about punching through holes in the cloud deck and flying on top. This usually raises a few eyebrows, and brings up a few questions. Is this legal? And more importantly, is it safe? Read more…

My Experiences With Line-Oriented Flight Training

By | June 22, 2009 | Advanced Flying | 2 Comments

Last April, I dealt with diversions, windshear, flap failures, and Category-II ILS approaches. All of this in just over four hours of flight time! Well, maybe it wasn’t actual flight time, but after a few minutes in a full-motion flight simulator it’s very easy to forget that you are only “playing a game.” You can read my account of airline LOFT training in the CRJ-200 in my post at PlasticPilot.net.

Flight Planning in the Internet Era

By | June 18, 2009 | Flying Tips | No comments

Familiarizing yourself with a new airport? Put that Airport / Facility Directory away and fire up YouTube! Is that sectional chart a little too ambiguous? Fold that chart up and “fly” the route with Google Earth. See how modern websites are changing the way tech-savvy pilots plan their flights. In his article, Vincent from PlasticPilot.net evaluates several online tools for flight planning and preparation.

A word of caution: As great as many of these resources are, pilots should stick to official sources as the primary means of flight planning.

How Technology Is Making Pilots Safer

By | June 16, 2009 | Misc | No comments

Although rare, airplanes do crash. As pilots, it is important to understand the causes of airplane crashes so as not to repeat the same mistakes. Statistical evidence shows that an increasing percentage of airplane accidents are being linked to pilot error. Before we jump to conclusions, consider that this may not be such a bad thing. Read more…

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