New Rules for Class D Operations

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

Where do I go from here? Better get a clearance. ccimage courtesy of wirelizard on flickr


From AOPA:

“To cross, or not to cross? That was a question to ponder.

Such is no longer the case: The FAA changed its policy and halted abbreviated taxi clearances long since, in keeping with NTSB recommendations. The recent change removed from the Class D airspace regulation language that had allowed controllers to omit runway crossing instructions from taxi clearances, with permission to cross any and all runways encountered along the route implied—but not stated.”

I think this means, you’ll have to receive a clearance to cross any runway, anytime. It’ll definitely make it safer.

Read the entire post here.

Posted in ATC | Leave a comment

Cirrus Pilots Taking it on the Chin

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

From Dick Collins…..

“Why, with every safety advantage, has this come to be true?
It can only be because of one thing: the Cirrus pilot.
If you take at face value the benefit of type-specific training, Cirrus pilots have that.
If you accept that glass cockpits give a pilot many valuable informational tools, Cirrus pilots have that.
If you buy into the fact that an airframe parachute gives a pilot one last but extremely valuable option, Cirrus pilots have that.
What they don’t seem to have is common sense…”

Read the whole post here.

Posted in GA | Leave a comment

“AOPA Live This Week”

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

There’s a new segment from AOPA called “AOPA Live This Week” that captures the developments in GA over the past week. Not quite sure what I think about it yet.

You can check it out below:


Posted in GA | Leave a comment

Tarmac by any other name…

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

Apparently, this is not tarmac ;-) ccimage courtesy of hyku on flickr


J. Mac McClellan goes after the excessive use of the word tarmac….

“Tarmac is a Britishism for pavement. Tarmac is short for tarmacadam. A patent was actually awarded to Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901 to protect the process of mixing tar with macadam and rolling it smooth to pave a road.

Not much, if any, real tarmac still exists, and certainly there is none of it on any U.S. airport I have ever heard of. The actual tarmac was superseded by asphalt which is commonly used for airport pavement, but concrete is even more common, particularly at larger airports where heavy airplanes operate.

I first started hearing the word tarmac used in reference to airports when the extreme airline delays began trapping passengers on the airplane while it was parked waiting for gate space, or customs or whatever. For some reason the general media began referring to these airplanes as “stuck on the tarmac.”

Read the whole post here.

Posted in GA | Leave a comment

Piper Clipper for Sale

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

Piper Clipper with Bushwheels

Here’s a nice little aircraft looking for a home…

Completely rebuilt in 1997 and Original logbooks since new in 1949.

The spec sheet is available here.

You can contact the owner here.

Posted in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

Don’t Bother the Birds

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

Aero-News Network has an interesting story about two pilots in Iowa who are in a heap of trouble for harassing birds:

“Two men from Des Moines, IA, have been charged with violating a federal law prohibiting the use of aircraft to harass animals. Paul Austin and Craig Martin made several low passes over Saylorville Lake on November 16, 2011 in their Fly Baby and Aeronca aircraft. The lake is locally known as a bird-watching area, with thousands of pelicans, ducks, geese and other species stopping by every fall during migration.”

Read the whole article here.

There are wildlife refuge areas not too far from where we fly. You can find the nearest one to Creve Coeur right here:

Flight Planning at SkyVector.com

Posted in Procedures | Leave a comment

2012 National Safety Stand Down – FAASafety.gov

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

The folks at the FAA are focusing on Loss of Control on their stand down day:

“Forty percent of the fatal accidents during the period 2001-2010 were categorized as Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I), outpacing the number two fatal accident category, Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT), by a three-to-one margin. Most fatal LOC-I accidents happened during the maneuvering phase, occurring about 1.4 times as often as accidents during the approach and enroute phases, and 26 times more frequently than accidents during both emergency landing phases combined.”

When: Saturday, May 12th starting at 8:30am

Where: Air Associates, Spirit of St. Louis
18600 Edison Ave
Chesterfield, MO 63005

Register for the event here.

Posted in Events | Leave a comment

Change in FAA Charts

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

A view of a VFR sectional; ccimage courtesy of dsearls on flickr


AOPA is reporting that those of us still using paper sectionals have some changes ahead:

“FAA sectionals, terminal area charts, and world aeronautical charts will be printed on more durable, tear- and water-resistant stock starting May 31. The paper also is brighter white, resulting in sharper images with truer color representation—making the charts easier to read.”

You can read the whole article here.

Posted in Procedures | Leave a comment

Crashing for Science

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

From AVweb:

“A team from the Discovery Channel purposely crashed a Boeing 727 in the Mexican desert last week and filmed it for a TV show. The airplane, packed with crash-test dummies and dozens of cameras, was flown into the ground at a shallow angle. A single pilot flew the jet until it was set on its final course, then parachuted out moments before impact. The 727 then was controlled by a remote operator in a chase plane… “We hope to provide new information about how to improve the chances of survival while providing scientific results on passenger safety and new technologies, including new ‘black box’ flight data recording systems,” said Eileen O’Neill, president of the Discovery Network.”

See an amateur video here:


Posted in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

Pilot Overcomes Obstacles to Take Flight

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Dave Chilenski

A great story from AOPA Live:

Posted in GA | Leave a comment