Exercise Your License to Learn
The task that befuddles most instrument pilots in training doesn’t involve flying at all! Prior to taxi, and sometimes prior to engine start, we need to copy and read back an IFR clearance. This is generally the most complicated set of instructions issued by Air Traffic Control throughout the whole flight, and it usually comes [...]
It’s so easy to feel rushed when taxiing around a busy towered airport. After receiving that initial taxi clearance, you are on a mission: get to the runway via taxiways Mike, Tango, give way to the Cessna on Juliet, then Juliet to 36-Center. Right, off we go. But sometimes things happen that will throw a [...]
Cruising along at altitude, air traffic control clears you to “descend at pilot’s discretion to 10,000 feet, contact Atlanta Center on 125.8.” Being a fuel conscious pilot, you decide to remain at cruise altitude a bit longer when the new controller tells you to descend at maintain 13,000. Here’s the dilemma: are you still cleared [...]
The Pilot / Controller Glossary in the AIM defines minimum fuel as an indication that an aircraft’s fuel supply has reached a state where, upon reaching the destination, it can accept little or no delay. It is important to keep in mind that a minimum fuel advisory is not an emergency; it is only an [...]
