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The FAA publishes lots of interesting info, but sometimes it’s hard to find. So I’m reposting this email for your edification. Runway Status Lights Are Coming to an Airport Near You Notice Number: NOTC3171 Runway Status Lights What Are Runway Status Lights? Runway Status Lights (RWSL) are a series of red in-pavement lights that warn [...]

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION N JO 7110.528 Effective Date: June 30, 2010 SUBJ: Taxi and Ground Movement Operations 1. Purpose of This Notice. This notice amends Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order JO 7110.65, Air Traffic Control, Paragraph 3-7-2, Taxi and Ground Movement Operations, by deleting the phraseology and procedure of issuing “taxi to” when authorizing an [...]

Great article on flutter and why it is a problem for pilots. Breakups in flight because of flutter are rare because of the extensive testing that is done by manufacturers. This is the video of the Commanche flutter test. And one of a Boeing 747. And a longish one on what went into testing the [...]

Carbon monoxide isn’t usually a problem with well-maintained aircraft, however, it’s enough of a risk that many people use CO monitors to detect concentrations while flying. Most sound an alarm at a preset level and many read the concentration in parts per million (PPM). One of the students brought his monitor and we used it [...]

I was listening to the tower at JFK and pulled up the airport diagram to follow along. I noticed the notation EMAS and 392 × 226 at the approach end of Rwy 22L. The Google Maps image below shows what it looks like from the air. View Larger Map It turns out that there are [...]

On May 16, 2007 Jeppesen started to display runway incursion hot spots in magenta on their IFR airport diagrams. The first two that I noticed are Atwater (KMER) and Santa Ana (KSNA). The NACO charts do not depict the hots spots at this time.1 Some airports are identifying hot spots on their web site. Atlanta’s [...]

The use of the GUMPS check has never made any sense to me. It is usually taught to students flying simple trainers and doesn’t really apply. I’ll describe an alternative after I dissect the current practice. GUMPS usually stands for Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop, Safety. Sometimes GUMPRS, adds Radios to the list and C-GUMPS for [...]

IFR for VFR pilots If you listen to the tower and traffic at a local airport you’ll get a feel for the landmarks that the tower uses for incoming traffic. At SBP for example, traffic that is straight in is asked to report abeam the landfill. Sometimes it is phrased as “report four-mile final”. If [...]

The pilot of an aircraft in VFR conditions is always responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft. This list is a quick shortcut to help you identify aircraft in the pattern. You can find pictures and info on all of these planes at Airliners.net. When identifying your aircraft while approaching the pattern it helps others [...]