Author Archives: David Megginson
FAA ATA 100 + Google Maps
Here’s a web application that mashes the FAA ATA 100 airport/airspace database with the Google maps public API: FAA Airports, Airspace fixes Google Maps/Earth interface It will show the position of any U.S. airport, navaid, or fix, and can plot … Continue reading
Tagged web
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Scenes from the shop floor
The engine finally came off my plane earlier this week, and it should be on its way to Halifax today for a complete teardown and inspection after my lightning strike in July. I snapped a few cell-phone pictures while I … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance, owning
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Grounded for a long time
I’m going to be grounded for a long time — possibly a few months — so I might not be posting much to this blog. After reattaching my overhauled and tested propeller, the shop was unable to complete a compass … Continue reading
Tagged admin, maintenance, owning
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Quibbling: what's a runway?
Aviatrix’s recent (and informative) post about alternate minima raises an interesting question: what’s a runway? For example, let’s take a medium-sized airport with a single paved surface, designated 09/27. Most of us, describing the airport to a friend in the … Continue reading
Tagged regulations
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Look for rain or lightning?
Michael Oxner has a posting about the weather capabilities of Canadian ATC radar, and mentions that many pilots do not have weather radar on board. That’s true — weather radar is pretty expensive — but a lot of us do … Continue reading
Air France Flight 358: Factual Information
Update #1: preliminary info from the TSB on lightning, touchdown point, and thrust reversers Update #2: Environment Canada noticed the crosswind as well Other aviation bloggers have posted sensible things about yesterday’s accident at Pearson, mainly slapping down the media … Continue reading
Tagged news
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Cell phone METAR/TAF experiment
I decided to learn WML today (used for web browsing on cell phones and other small wireless devices), and METARs and TAFs seemed like a good, simple project. If you’re using a WAP-enabled device (i.e. your cell phone’s browser), try … Continue reading
Tagged web
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Still AOG
I’m still AOG, 9 days after discovering evidence of a minor lightning strike. Other than the depolarized magnetic compass, the only damage from the strike is a tiny blister at the end of the prop, easily within tolerances for filing … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance, owning
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Hit by lightning
[Update #1 below] The last time I flew was Wednesday 13 July, for my IFR flight test renewal. I arrived at the airport early this morning for a quick business flight to Toronto and found two things wrong with the … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, maintenance, owning
4 Comments
Birds behaving badly
Here’s a NOTAM from late this afternoon for Iroquois Falls, Ontario (CNE4): UACN10 CYXU 202005 YZ UA /OV CNE4 /TM 2005 /FL000 /TP BE10 /RM FLOCKS OF GULLS ON RUNWAY – HAD TO OVERSHOOT AND TRY AGAIN. GULLS RELUCTANT TO … Continue reading
Land and Hold Short 