Recent content by GeierFlyer

A few thoughts: - I take the family on airplane trips several times a year, mostly for week-end outings. My club has rules that allow for this. - The economics of general aviation can be quite attractive, at least if going commercial is the alternative: Airfare for a family, baggage fees...

When I fly from my home field near New York to a destination in the Washington SFRA, I file an IFR flight plan and give the altitude as "VFR". The DUATS system accepts this without problems. I once had a tower controller at my home field confused, but that was it. I noticed that the en-route...

You say you don't enjoy flying much, worry and when in a small airplane, you wish you were back on the ground. That sounds a lot like what my wife (my first and, as far as I can imagine, my last) used to put forward. This past spring, I convinced her to take a "pinch hitter" course offered by...

Since you have access to a car, you might also want to consider Danbury (DXR). It's pretty exactly a half-hour drive north of White Plains. While you would spend more time on the road, you might be better off training-wise. The airfield is not quite as frequented by business aviation, and the...

Most of the time, I think radio traffic is working just fine. I cannot any discern any trends neither for better or for worse. There are a couple of rules to which I try sticking: 1. I listen before speaking. Not only does it help to filter what information is relevant (If I’m...

A word of encouragement: A few years back, I added a European license, issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, to my FAA private ticket, so I could fly in Europe. The flight test was done by a British examiner, who rode to the plane in a wheel chair: Years earlier, he had been left disabled...

Just to chime in: Grass runways are pretty much the standard for general aviation airfields in many parts of Europe. You'll find a lot of high performance airplanes with retractable gear there, too. I seem to recall that Fokker used to test fly jetplanes on a grass runway on the island of Texel...

Some time ago, I read a piece called "If the media reported about cars the way they report about airplanes". It went something like this: Near Fatal Incident on I 95 A driver and his family of four had a big scare last night on I 95, when their Chevrolet Cavalier private use vehicle almost...

I am afraid I have been insufficiently clear when I formulated my question. We are not considering paying club officers. Our idea was to give them a credit for flying time. Very useful to know that Wings of Carolina waives club officers' dues; that's something we have not considered so far.

Thanks for this word of caution. But that is really not a concern!

Long story... But yes, "Geier" means "vulture" in German, and it rhymes with "flyer". Thanks again to those who have provided input!

Thanks for the quick responses so far! Based on these and what I have heard from clubs we have contacted directly, there seems to be a large number of flying clubs that offer no compensation to their officers. Think about it: Doesn't that say something very positive about the spirit of general...

First the "Hello": I have been following "Pilots of America" for a while, but only registered now. I'm a private pilot, member of a flying club in Connecticut. No ambitions for flying other than poking holes in the sky. Now the question: Our flying club is considering rules for the...