Monthly Archives: March 2005
Admin: Comment and Pingback Limits
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 admin
6 Comments
IFR risks
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
No Glamour
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
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 maintenance, owning, regulations
2 Comments
Moving to Full Text
[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
On Top
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 aviating, regulations, weather
5 Comments
New York and Teterboro
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 aviating, places
2 Comments
Local U.S. FSS Numbers
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
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
Mnemonics
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 aviating
5 Comments
Land and Hold Short 