Tag Archives: aviating
"That was a rough one"
I flew back from Washington/Dulles to Ottawa this morning as a passenger on an Air Canada CRJ. Things didn’t look promising — when I arrived at the airport after an early-morning drive in pouring rain, the ticket agent told me … Continue reading
Tagged aviating
Comments Off on "That was a rough one"
Partial panel and fixed gear
From aviation pundits with deadlines to meet and empty pages to fill, we hear a lot about the dangers of losing a vacuum pump (and consequently, attitude indicator and directional gyro) in IMC, and why IFR pilots need to (a) … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, maintenance
3 Comments
Cirrus owner's review (mixed)
Back in July 2005 (updated in September), Philip Greenspun published a detailed owner’s review of his factory-new Cirrus SR20, the 200 hp (cheaper) sibling of the Cirrus SR22. Philip has flown his plane pretty seriously around a huge part of … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, maintenance, owning
6 Comments
Ground support
Most commercial pilots, from the 747 captain to the freight dog and flight instructor, have something that most private pilots lack: ground support (did you think I was going to write something like “gumption”?). Today, the professionalism of a charity … Continue reading
Tagged aviating
2 Comments
Surface temperature and the TAF
When you’re looking at the weather around a specific Canadian or U.S. airport, the METAR (current observations) includes surface temperature and dewpoint, while the TAF (forecast) does not. Why? It’s true that pilots have to worry about more than just … Continue reading
Know your fuel consumption
Update: WordPress tells me that this is my 100th post. Whoopie! Update 2: I went for another test flight on Friday, and the problem is fixed. When you land after a flight, do you know — within a gallon/a few … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, maintenance, numbers, owning
Comments Off on Know your fuel consumption
You can't, always
The weather might be marginal somewhere along your route. You’re instrument rated, but you’re concerned that filing IFR will result in a much longer trip, or maybe you’re worried that you’ll hit ice at the required IFR altitudes. Assuming that … Continue reading
Back in the air
Today I took my Warrior for its first flight with the overhauled engine installed. I haven’t flown it since 13 July, and it was a nice feeling, despite high winds and a lot of low-level turbulence. I was supposed to … Continue reading
XML 2005 Conference
My Warrior’s engine is finally back from overhaul in Halifax after its lighting strike, and I hope to be back in the air in a bit over a week. Next month, I’m planning a long (7+ hour) flight from Ottawa … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, places
3 Comments
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
Land and Hold Short 