Tests. Some pilots love them, some pilots hate them. The thing with the biennial flight review (BFR) is that it really isn’t a test, but it still feels very much like one. I just completed my first one this year, and I figured it would be a good idea to share what I learned about the process in case anyone else was feeling apprehensive about their first BFR.
Read More
One of the more popular posts on this blog is “What’s In My Flight Bag,” a post from a couple years ago where I discussed what I was currently carrying in my bag when I rented an airplane. Since then things have changed a bit, and I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit the topic.
Read More
There used to be a pretty big contingent in the flying community that thought flying with an iPad or electronic flight bag was a recipe for disaster. These days that opinion seems to have flipped on its head — an iPad is pretty much required equipment for every flight. The trick is finding a way to keep that iPad stationary and visible during flight. One of the best things I’ve found is MyGoFlight’s iPad Sport Case
Read More
I just recently checked something off my bucket list that I had honestly thought would take me a lot more time to get around to doing, namely acting as Pilot In Command for an aircraft flying around the Alps during the winter. This was an amazing experience, and something that every pilot should try to do at least once in their life, in my opinion. In my last post we talked about the legalities, now let’s talk about the planning.
I just recently checked something off my bucket list that I had honestly thought would take me a lot more time to get around to doing, namely acting as Pilot In Command for an aircraft flying around the Alps during the winter. This was an amazing experience, and something that every pilot should try to do at least once in their life, in my opinion. I’ll try to document as much of the experience as possible here in a couple articles to hopefully make it a little easier to check this box for y’all as well, starting with the legal questions.
Garmin Pilot must be feeling the pressure from ForeFlight. In the last couple months they have significantly upped their game and released a ton of new features which, in my opinion, have not only closed the gap but actually put Garmin Pilot in the lead. I’ll do a head-to-head comparison sometime in the future but for now let’s take a look under the hood at the two latest additions.
I was sitting on the back patio last Sunday morning with my girlfriend idly browsing the internet when a story popped into her feed that caught her eye. It was a story about a pilot flying rescue puppies to their new home, and she thought the puppies were adorable. Smelling a chance to get her back in the air I explained that it’s an organization called Pilots N Paws where volunteers fly dogs around the country. She loved the idea, so I decided to make the jump and sign up. Four days later I was flying my first set of adorable puppies, a flight neither of us would soon forget.
When it comes to EFB apps for general aviation on the iPad ForeFlight seems to be the top of the heap in terms of users. One of the primary reasons why people say they prefer ForeFlight is the ability to overlay instrument approach plates over the sectional and enroute charts providing a great deal of situational awareness for instrument pilots when setting up and shooting an approach. Garmin Pilot has been steadily catching up to ForeFlight in terms of features, and with their latest pre-Oshkosh release they’ve now knocked that advantage off the ever-shortening list.
With the implementation of ADS-B in the United States there’s suddenly a lot more information available for pilots to consume while in the air. Previously you’d need a subscription to something like Sirius XM weather to get updates on what the clouds look like along your route but now the FAA is providing a service that is just as good if not better and completely free of charge through something called FIS-B (Flight Information Service Broadcast). Over the last couple months I’ve been enjoying the benefits of that through a Garmin GDL-39 and without a doubt it has changed the way I fly for the better. One specific flight a couple weeks ago really showed where having FIS-B available is a major benefit.
There’s little doubt that David Clark’s H10 headset is the gold standard for general aviation. When I started flight training that was the very first purchase I made, and over the years they have served me well. For short hops around the local area they really can’t be beat — they are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and do a great job of blocking out the engine noise so you can focus on communicating on the radios. But as soon as my flights started pushing past the two hour mark I realized that I needed something better. That’s when I decided to give the Halo headset from Quiet Technologies a try.