Charts & Plates

KMFR LOC/DME BC-B

In this reintroduction of a past series of articles, we’ll fully dissect a particular chart or procedure. While many of the points we’ll make...

That Elusive Proficiency

Many consider the instrument rating as the most difficult aeronautical achievement. This is probably even more the case today than when I earned that...

More Hide and Seek

Flight-planning your Washingtonstate mini-vacation taught you a lot about identifying obstacles on approach. Overall, IFR into Deer Park won’t be too onerous for terrain...

Dead Reckoning in IFR

GPS in general aviation aircraft has become ubiquitous. So much so that the FAA’s move to a Performance Based Navigation (PBN) world based primarily...

Obstacle Hunt

When briefing an approach, we might not care what a given “obstacle” actually is. But they do come in all shapes and sizes; the chart...

Final Stage Check

Some people say that it doesn’t matter where you practice IFR because all procedures use the same cookbook. An ILS is an ILS whether...

It All Adds Up

Three hours in a single, even a roomy one like the sturdy Piper Dakota, seems to be about the maximum sitting time for most...

Keep Up the Good Fight

The clock read a few minutes past noon when I pulled through my control tower’s entry gate. As always on my way into work,...

One After Another

A long-awaited family reunion is finally happening in Buffalo, New York, just over two-hours’ flight time from your home in Elkhart, Indiana. Two hours,...

Q&A For Better SA

Not long ago, I was kibitzing with Mike, my longtime friend and hangar-flying buddy. Aviation was, of course, the topic of choice. I was in...

Got GPS?

Our IFR avionics are getting evermore capable, allowing us single-pilot fliers to shoot RNAV approaches once reserved for the big iron. While most standard...

Upper-Level Weather

Unless your flying is limited to local sightseeing in good weather, chances are you’ve used winds aloft charts at some point. For many commercial...