Want to be sure your flightpath is clear on Christmas Eve? Don’t worry, NORAD has you covered. Early in the morning on December 24th, NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) records the launch of a very special aircraft. After coordinating with “Santa’s Elf Launch Staff” to confirm his launch
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Today, we’re featuring an excerpt from The Pilot’s Manual: Instrument Flying (PM-3).
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is a surveillance technology being deployed throughout the entire National Airspace System. ADS-B enables improved surveillance services, both air-to-air and air-to-ground, especially in areas where radar is ineffective due to
…On Monday, we learned about the Instrument Landing System and it’s components. Today, I would like to further our discussion and talk about Instrument Approach Procedure Charts. These charts are what depict to pilots how to fly a particular approach into an airport. Many instrument approaches will require the
…A radio wave is an electromagnetic (EM) wave with frequency characteristics that make it useful. The wave travels long distances through space (in or out of the atmosphere) without losing too much strength. An antenna is used to convert electric current into a radio wave so it can travel through
…Earlier in 2016, the FAA renamed the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) to “Chart Supplement U.S.” The FAA made this change to bring the publication in line with specifications under the Interagency Air Cartographic Committee (IACC). Not all that important why it was done; what is important is the fact that the
…Chapter 26, “En Route Navigation,” of the new fourth edition of The Pilot’s Manual: Ground School focuses on how to go about the business being an effective pilot/navigator with minimum interruption of safely flying the airplane. The components of successful pilot/navigation are:
- flight planning;
- chart-reading (also known as
As you know by now, wind is a mass of air moving over the surface of the Earth in a definite direction. When the wind is blowing from the north at 25 knots, it simply means that air is moving southward at a rate of 25 NM in one hour.
…It is a pilot’s responsibility prior to every flight to calculate time, speed, distance, and fuel required for that particular flight. As a pilot, you will have access to onboard systems, and tools like the CX-2 Flight Computer or E6-B that can assist in these types of calculations
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