Monthly Archives: March 2005

Admin: Comment and Pingback Limits

Posted on March 31, 2005 by David Megginson

I’ve been a bit overwhelmed dealing with comment and traceback/pingback spam on my two blogs, sometimes having to delete up to 50 a day (mostly in the moderation queue, fortunately). My first impulse was to ban comments completely, since most … Continue reading →

Tagged | 6 Comments

IFR risks

Posted on March 31, 2005 by David Megginson

Congratulations to Hamish, who has just earned his instrument rating down in California. Hamish wisely reflects that he wants to ease into IFR flying — no low approaches, etc., until he has a lot of experience. I’m going to be … Continue reading →

Tagged , | 1 Comment

No Glamour

Posted on March 23, 2005 by David Megginson

Kris Johnson, a student pilot, has a post about the lack of glamour in being a pilot. Instead of the soft leather jacket, silk scarf, and rougish smile, it’s a big, clumsy headset, googly sunglasses, and trying to find a … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 3 Comments

Signing off on maintenance

Posted on March 20, 2005 by David Megginson

Mike Busch has written a column about annual inspections in the U.S., especially about understandings and misunderstandings among U.S. IA’s (inspection authoritiesI think) — many US IAs think that they are a kind of police force responsible for keeping unsafe … Continue reading →

Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Moving to Full Text

Posted on March 18, 2005 by David Megginson

[Updated: Bloglines OK] At the request of a couple of users, I’m going to experiment with switching this weblog to a fulltext RSS feed. I had been reluctant to do that because some of the posts are fairly lengthy, but … Continue reading →

Tagged | 1 Comment

On Top

Posted on March 17, 2005 by David Megginson

When weather permits, VFR is often a good choice: it gives you more control over your route and altitude than you would have IFR, generally speeds up the trip (since you don’t have to be spaced and sequenced as much … Continue reading →

Tagged , , | 5 Comments

New York and Teterboro

Posted on March 17, 2005 by David Megginson

I just got back from a short trip to New York with my family and my first visit to Teterboro airport. A big advantage of Teterboro is that it has customs at the airport, so I was able to fly … Continue reading →

Tagged , | 2 Comments

Local U.S. FSS Numbers

Posted on March 13, 2005 by David Megginson

The U.S. Airport/Facility Directory consistently lists 1-800-WX-BRIEF as the phone number for any Flight Service Station (FSS). Unfortunately, the toll-free numbers don’t work for a Canadian cell phone, even when you’re in the U.S. — that makes life hard when … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 5 Comments

Web site: push your own tin

Posted on March 10, 2005 by David Megginson

The US has some sites for tracking flights on the web (IFR or VFR with flight following), but as far as I know, they all require accounts, membership in an organization, or something like that. While collecting information for our … Continue reading →

Tagged | 1 Comment

Mnemonics

Posted on March 4, 2005 by David Megginson

Aviatrix has a great posting on the pointless mnemonics we learn during flight training, such as GUMPS (Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Props, Switches) for last-second pre-landing checks and CCCC (Cram levers forward, Carb Heat [or Cowl Flaps], Climb, Call ATC) for … Continue reading →

Tagged | 5 Comments