Recent content by Squirrelfury

I agree with DMS Pilot. In 1999, an individual queried the FAA as to whether ceiling and visibility minima contained in SID's were binding upon Part 91 pilots. The FAA responded, "... I am constrained to agree with your analysis that a Part 91 flight can depart in weather conditions less than...

Eh, okay -- probably "checklist discipline" and "distraction" did play a role in this crash. But isn't it worth considering the possible contribution of choosing to fly with absolutely nonexistent, zip, zero operating margins? The mishap pilot said that he almost immediately recognized the...

It's a widely accepted approximation in aeronautical engineering that level flight speed varies as the cube root of changes in thrust horsepower. Consequently, the ~8% improvement in performance that you observed suggests a ~25% improvement in Thp. That seems like "a lot" to attribute solely...

Okay ... since you asked: It's slow. This is may not be the best airplane for pilots who want to boast about Cirrus-like airspeeds from their LSA. I've flown mine all over the southwest, and twice back-and-forth from Texas to Wisconsin. But you really appreciate how big of a county the USA...

Measuring accurate "air data" -- static and total pressure that are used to calculate altitude, airspeed, and rate-of-climb -- is one of the most difficult challenges in aircraft design. What was used in this case to determine TAS? If it was a GPS-derived value from a modern PFD like a G500 or...

Cancel a flight due to wind shear at 2000' AGL? Wait ... what ... why?!? Wind always varies with altitude. All "wind shear" means is that the wind speed variation is occurring over a smaller than normal altitude range -- maybe as little as a few hundred feet. If you climb or descend through...

"Unsafe"? Oh, I don't know if it's unsafe. I do know that it's less so -- that safety margins and options are reduced. Look, just for example, at the POH performance predictions for a C-172. They suggest that a 10% reduction in power at SL will increase takeoff distances by about 9%, and...

I don't think so. I believe that the premise is flawed, and that the POH language reflects an understanding of engine operation that was prevalent back in the day, but is now outdated. Modern laboratory instrumentation has allowed much better understanding of what's actually going on inside of...

The latter. I basically extended my Downwind leg until I was clear of the immediate airfield area, then circled-around and re-entered Downwind from a 45º direction. I think that the key to the good traffic flow at Ranger over the weekend (and at any such gaggle) was communications and simple...

I, too, was at the Ranger fly-in yesterday, and wasn't that upset. Through their airport website, Facebook postings, and direct E-mailing, the fly-in organizer had suggested some special traffic pattern etiquette and abbreviated position reporting phraseology to accommodate the expected high...

Your revised clearance is:, "Hold Lejon, Southwest on the Stonewall 248 Radial, 5000, blah, blah". With only a single GPS/VOR navigator with the CDI selected to VLOC (or, with a single good working VOR receiver, for that matter), a pilot's going to be busier than a one-armed paper hanger...

No. As a non-instrument rated pilot, AHRS redundancy should be right at the bottom (or below) of things to waste brain cells on. Devote them instead to learning more about weather, and further reducing the chance that you'll ever need even the primary AHRS capability in your airplane.

The author's criticism of the MAX design is summed up in three points: Boeing produced a dynamically unstable airframe, the 737 Max. That is big strike No. 1. Boeing then tried to mask the 737’s dynamic instability with a software system. Big strike No. 2. Finally, the software relied on...

I think that there's a lot of confusion going on here. I'm going to question several statements separately ... That doesn't sound right. He could get "vectors to the final approach course", or he could have gotten "direct to SPAGS", but "vectors to an intersection" -- especially one that's a...

Contact Jeff at zfwtours@gmail.com. Tell him that you'd like to be included in his next tour of Fort Worth Center. You'll get a great explanation of how the NAS works, plus lots of tips and local knowledge about how Regional Approach and Center fit together and how best to get the responses...