Aviation News Talk Podcast

Your Cirrus Specialist. Call me if you’re thinking of buying a new Cirrus SR20 or SR22. Call 1-650-967-2500 for Cirrus purchase and training assistance. Send us an email - http://www.sjflight.com/Forms/inquiry.htm Max talks about three recent accidents where aircraft got in trouble while flying too close to the ground. One was Cessna 172 flying low over the Mississippi river, and another was a Cirrus SR22 that hit power lines while flying an approach at night to the Lancaster, TX airport. In that incident, the passenger pulled the parachute when the plane hit the first set of line, and the parachute snagged a second set of power lines, holding the aircraft three feet above the ground. He also talks about Night Flying Safety and in detail about black hole approaches, how they create an illusion which causes pilots to fly a curved path into the ground, and the importance of using a visual or electronic glide slope when flying over dark areas on approach to land at night. Listener Jeff from Massachusetts recomme

Your Cirrus Specialist. Call me if you’re thinking of buying a new Cirrus SR20 or SR22. Call 1-650-967-2500 for Cirrus purchase and training assistance. Send us an email – http://www.sjflight.com/Forms/inquiry.htm If you have a question you’d like answered on the show, let listeners hear you ask the question, by recording your listener question using your phone. Jason Blair is a FAA DPE, or Designated Pilot Examiner, who gives checkrides to pilots, and he’s also an active flight instructor. He got an early start in aviation, taking flying lessons at age 15, soloing at 16, and getting his private certificate at 17. Jason explains that there is a shortage of designated pilot examiners who give checkrides, which is affecting people’s ability to schedule a checkride. He also said that if someone feels that an examiner is not conducting checkrides in accordance with the ACS, they can send comments to this FAA Email address for DPE/Practical Test Concerns. Then he talks about the important qualification process, w

Your Cirrus Specialist. Call me if you're thinking of buying a new Cirrus SR20 or SR22. Call 1-650-967-2500 for Cirrus purchase and training assistance. Send us an email - http://www.sjflight.com/Forms/inquiry.htm If you have a question you'd like answered on the show, let listeners hear you ask the question, by recording your listener question using your phone. Please visit my Patreon page to view many free posts and make a monthly contribution. Risk Management: The goal of risk management is to proactively identify safety-related hazards and mitigate the associated risks. Max talks about four fundamental principles of risk management, and then talks about how the word "probably" should be a trigger word that gets you to consider other options when you're flying. He also talks about Pilot in Command and what it means. He suggests pilots think of it as a verb, meaning the pilot takes action when needed to prevent an incident or accident, and takes responsibility for whatever occurs. Listeners have questions o

This past weekend, the governor of California called the Northern California wildfires “one of the greatest tragedies California has ever faced.” And even as we record this today, nine days after the fires started, over 11,000 firefighters are still on the front lines, fighting these fires. You’ve probably seen news reports showing some of the dozens of airtankers and helicopters that are fighting the fires. But most people are unaware that the California Highway Patrol runs one of the largest law enforcement aviation operations in the country, both in number of aircraft and hours flown. And that those aircraft, flown by CHP officer/pilots, have been heavily involved in fire-related activities. Late on a  Sunday night, on October 8, 2017, CHP officer/pilot Jan Sears was returning from a routine patrol in one of the department's GippsAero GA-8 Airvan airplanes, when he spotted a faint flicker in the dark hills. He told his partner, Flight Officer Todd Labadie that it might not be anything, but that they should

There are many ways for a pilot to flight plan a trip. Traditionally, it was done with a paper map, pencil, and a plotter. But now there are many new flight planning tools available on the Internet and as smartphone apps for iPhone and Android phones. We first talk about which percentage of listeners use each tool, then describe the most popular tools, and finally describe how user use multiple tools. Some of the tools described include: ForeFlight Skyvector.com Garmin Pilot FltPlan.com OzRunways 1800wxbrief.com WingX AOPA Flight Planner DUATs SkyDemon NavPlan EFB FlyQ EFB AirNav Pro Mermoz To reduce iPad discharge in flight, Greg Brown recommended turning the brightness down and this USB charger. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what what ADS-B portable receiver you own or plan to buy, and what you like and dislike about it. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from you

Last week we talked about briefing the approach and said one of the first things you should do is check to see whether GPS is in the title of the approach. For example, you might look to see whether the title is just VOR 21 approach or if it’s VOR 21 OR GPS. If it’s the latter, it’s obvious you can use GPS in lieu of a VOR signal for the entire approach. But what’s less clear is when you can use GPS for a portion of the approach if it says just VOR 21 and doesn’t have GPS in the title of the approach. Although GPS receivers have been around for over 20 years, pilots are still unclear as to when they can use GPS on non-GPS approaches such as ILS and VOR approaches. As Max explains, the rules are different for VOR and ILS approaches. The regulatory basis can be found in FAA Advisory Circular AC 90-108, dated March 3, 2011, and in the AIM, the Aeronautical Information Manual, in section 1-2-3, sub-paragraphs c4 and c-5, updated May 26, 2016. These tell us that for a VOR or NDB approach, you can now use GPS for t

Everyone knows that when flying VFR, that a pilot’s priorities are to aviate, navigate, and communicate. But when flying IFR, pilots are often confused by their priorities when faced with a high task load while preparing to fly an instrument approach. 2008 National Flight Instructor of the Year Max Trescott explains that IFR pilots should prioritize these three things above all other activities. 1. Rolling out onto headings 2. Leveling off at Altitudes 3. Intercepting the final approach course Getting the ATIS, briefing the approach, talking to ATC and everything else are all lower priorities. Max then talks about how to brief an instrument approach while in cruise flight and setting up for an instrument approach. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll t

Everyone feels nervous to some extent when they go for a checkride, so we share 14 ways to reduce your anxiety before and during a checkride. Checkride anxiety applies to student pilots in particular because it’s your first checkride. But it also applies to all pilots who think that someday they’ll go for an instrument, or maybe a multiengine, seaplane, glider, Commercial, ATP, or CFI checkride. Professional pilots working for a Part 135 charter company or an airline, also have to periodically be rechecked. Here's a brief summary of the 14 ways to reduce your nervousness about a checkride. Note: You'll hear far more details about each one in the podcast. If possible, meet the examiner ahead of time. Clear the deck for at least a week before the checkride. Do whatever it takes to guarantee that you get a decent amount of sleep the night before the checkride. Make sure you have all of your paperwork in order. Become intimately familiar with the ACS oral section, Use a study guide like the ASA Private Oral Exam

On Christmas Day, 2006, a tornado destroyed more than 40 airplanes belonging to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. But this year, as Hurricane Irma began tracking toward Florida, the University was prepared with an evacuation plan for its aircraft. Veenen Udayan, an instructor pilot at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, FL, was a team leader for moving Embry’s 63 aircraft out of the path of hurricane Irma, and relocating them at the Auburn University Airport, and at Atlantic Aviation at the Birmingham Airport, both in Alabama. In this interview, he talks about Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the flight planning and the advance coordination required with ATC to fit so many IFR aircraft into the system at one time. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone an

Remote Area Medical (RAM) is working to deploy it’s fleet of aircraft to Puerto Rico, which will be the forward base from which their Cessna Caravan will fly supplies to the islands hardest hit by Hurricane Irma. RAM was founded over 30 years ago, and has helped provide medical services to over 100,000 people. They are looking for volunteer pilots and healthcare professionals to provide services in underserved areas in the U.S. and the Caribbean. They currently need pilots who can fly their Caravans and their King Air 200. You can find the Remote Area Medical webpage here and their Facebook page here. In this episode, we interview RAM founder Stan Brock about the organization, and learned how doctors, dentists, optometrists, and pilots can help the organization by volunteering their time, or donating money. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving t

Twelve days ago, Operation Airdrop didn’t exist. What did exist was dozens of towns in Texas that were cut off from the outside world by Hurricane Harvey's flood waters, downed trees, and power lines. After driving a trailer load of supplies to Rockport, TX, Doug Jackson wondered if general aviation airplanes could be used to fly in relief supplies to isolated communities. Twelve days later, over 200 Aircraft from Mexico and all over U.S. have flown over 500 flights and delivered over 250,000 pounds of supplies. All with small, general aviation aircraft. Now the focus of the operation shifts to Florida, where Hurricane Irma is still raging as this show is being released. In our interview with Doug Jackson, he describes the catalyst for the organization--a moving encounter with a down-on-his-luck man with a sick dog--how the operation was set up in such a short period of time, and how pilots can donate money or use their airplane to deliver badly needed hurricane relief supplies. You can find the Operation Air

We asked listeners to the Aviation News Talk podcast to send us their favorite aviation joke or pilot joke. What we learned is this: pilots have a good sense of humor! Most people are involved in aviation to have fun, and nothing lightens up an airplane cockpit like a good aviation joke! We found some great jokes and this show is a compilation of the best aviation jokes we could find. So sit back, relax and have fun listening to the show. And if you like the jokes, feel free to share with others, or post your own favorite jokes for me on Google+ or Twitter. And remember, have fun and keep the blue side up! Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

In July 2017, Glynn Falcon had a crash while taking off in his Piper Arrow at the Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, CA. His plane was there for maintenance, and he was planning to fly it back to his home airport in Marina, CA. Immediately after rotation, he observed that the aircraft made an uncommanded roll to the left. Realizing he was unable to control the aircraft, he pulled the power, and the plane was destroyed in the crash. Glynn survived with minor injuries. In this episode, he describes the factors that led to the crash, and what he learned from his first flight instructor that helped him avoid what is often a fatal accident type. Here’s what I teach my students from day one. When you’re checking the controls, take ahold of the yoke and stick and stick your thumb straight up. Then when you move the yoke or stick, your thumb will be pointing at the aileron that is supposed to be up. If you do that religiously, every time you do a run up, you’ll avoid ever taking off with the controls connected backwa

You’ve undoubtedly heard of a stabilized approach and know it’s helpful to have one prior to landing. But many pilots don’t know all of the elements of a stabilized approach, or the potential expense of an unstable approach. Last year, two pilots I know dug deep into their wallets to pay for damage resulting from landings that followed unstable approaches. Both considered going around, but didn’t. The pilots of an IFR charter fight into Akron, Ohio in November 2015 weren’t so lucky; everyone died after their unstable approach. So what is a stabilized approach, and why does it matter? Cirrus Aircraft’s Flight Operations Manual gives a good description. It says: “A stabilized approach is characterized by a constant angle and constant rate of descent approach profile ending near the touch-down point. Stabilized approach criteria apply to all approaches including practice power-off approaches.“ It goes on to say that for VFR landings, an “approach is considered stabilized when all of the following criteria are ac

National Aviation Day has been around for more than 75 years, But it probably doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. Here are 13 fun ideas for celebrating on national aviation Day, which is August 19. Franklin D. Roosevelt created National Aviation Day in 1939 by presidential proclamation. Originally it was to celebrate the growth and advancements made in aviation. But one can’t help wonder whether it was also a way to start getting more people interested in aviation got a time when Europe was just beginning to enter World War II. Today we face a different challenge, which is how to attract more people to aviation at a time when pilots are in high demand, but new student pilot starts are declining. Here are 13 ways that you can celebrate today, or help get other people more connected to aviation. 1. Get someone else involved in aviation. 2. If you are a rusty pilot, get back into flying! 3. Fly in a new airplane type. 4. Watch an aviation themed movie. 5. Fly a flight simulator! 6. If you are a license

Many pilots think that if a turbocharger fails, it’s no big deal and just represents a slight loss of power, which may be inconvenient, but is in no way an emergency. They are dead wrong! All turbocharger failures must be treated as an emergency requiring an immediate landing. We’ll talk about a pilot who didn’t know this and as a result destroyed an airplane. And we had more feedback on entering the traffic at non-Towered Airports. Not everyone likes the FAA preferred entry for crossing over the field at 500 feet above pattern altitude and then turning to enter on the 45. As one listener writes, “just because ‘it takes longer’ is not an emergency. Short of a true emergency there really is no good reason to deviate from the standard procedure in my book.” Plus listener questions. A listener asks about TAWS, the Terrain Awareness Warning System and how it works. We explain the different TAWS functions, and how they help keep you safe. And an instrument pilots asks about how to activate an instrument approach o

We talk about the benefits of participating in the FAA WINGS program in lieu of doing a Flight Review (formerly called a BFR), which pilots in the U.S. must do every two years. Instead of spending an hour on the ground reviewing Part 91 rules and regulations, the FAA WINGS program lets you can take free online courses instead, which may be a better use of your time, if you choose courses that help keep you safer when you fly. We had lots of feedback on entering the traffic at non-Towered Airports. Not everyone likes the FAA preferred entry for crossing over the field at 500 feet above pattern altitude and then turning to enter on the 45. But we don’t get to pick which rules to follow and not follow, just because we don’t like them! Plus an Air Canada flight 759 near miss update. Oddly, that aircraft was not visible on SFO’s surface radar for 12 seconds, and we explain why. Plus listener questions. An instrument pilots asks about how to activate an instrument approach on his Garmin GPS. Click here for the surv

Cirrus Aircraft announced a ground breaking new program called Cirrus Embark that provides free, yes absolutely free flight training to buyers of pre-owned Cirrus Aircraft. So if you were to buy a ten-year old Cirrus from someone, you can get up to 3 days of free flight training, paid for by Cirrus! It’s called the Cirrus Embark program, and we interview Ivy McIver, SR Product Line Manager at Cirrus Aircraft to talk about the Embark program. If you are thinking about buying a new, or late model Cirrus, please contact me now, so that I can give you some tips to help you with your decision process. You can contact me here. Click here for the survey. Tell us which plane you fly most often. Please visit my new Patreon page and help me with my goal of funding the creation of two apps for my show, one for Apple and one for Google Play, so that non-techie pilots can find the show in the app store. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.  

We talk about flying at non-Towered Airports, including how to enter on the 45, when on the opposite side of the airport. The preferred method of entry from the opposite side of the pattern is to announce your intentions and cross over midfield at least 500 feet above pattern altitude; here in Northern California, pilot examiners look for pilots on checkrides to cross at 1,000 feet above the traffic pattern altitude. When well clear of the pattern—approximately 2 miles—scan carefully for traffic, descend to pattern altitude, then turn right to enter at 45° to the downwind leg at midfield. Air Canada flight 759 had a near miss last week, and a retired Air Canada captain told me that their procedures require pilots to back up visual approaches with electronic navigation. But apparently this pilot didn’t follow that procedure, and he nearly landed on top of several airliners on a taxiway. Plus listener questions how to legally exit an airport under a TFR, and an instrument pilots asks about whether to load an in

We talk about flying the traffic pattern, and talk in detail about flying a Cessna 172 in the traffic pattern. For example, many people don’t know the exact meaning of “Make Right Traffic.” It means, fly to a position where you can enter the traffic pattern on the 45, then turn to downwind and fly the traffic pattern. It doesn’t mean to enter on the downwind. And of course you should be at pattern altitude when you’re on the 45. We also talk about doing a forward slip in a Cessna 172 and use of flaps during crosswind landings. Air Canada flight 759 had a near miss last week, when it inadvertently lined up to land on a taxiway instead of on the runway. We talk about how confirmation bias may have contributed to the lack of awareness that the Air Canada pilots had about their situation. We also talk about a recent fatal Cirrus SR22 crash in Sonoma, California, and the importance of never pulling the parachute below 400 feet, as it will most likely make things worse! I give details about a recent flight I took f