Have you ever wondered what all that nonsense about QNH, QFE, QTM and so on are all about? I certainly did and I used to ask my pilot friends regularly. I was still a student then, but nobody answered me. I thought perhaps that QFE might stand for “Question for Field Elevation” and QNH might be “Question for Nautical Height” or some such nonsense.
On my recent trip to the USA, it occured to me that it would be nice to do an aerial tour of such places as the San Francisco bridge and the Grand Canyon. In the last news letter I mentioned how spectacular the Golden Gate bridge was from the air, and certainly it was a [...]
In the USA where big aircraft and little aircraft are more likely to be found at the same airport, it is important that taxi procedures and clearances be clearly understood. One of the things that I find particularly coming from a UK background, flying from small airports and grass strips is that the airport signage [...]
Checklists are not Do Lists! I’ve heard that a lot recently. Especially from American instructors. What the heck do they mean? You have a checklist. It has a list of items on it. You go down the list and make sure you’ve carried out all the items right? Don’t misunderstand me but the last time [...]
With the G1000 system becoming ever more capable and with it being fitted to more and more aircraft, it’s probably time that you got the glass cockpit conversion! I’ve mentioned the Synthetic Vision system in a previous month (http://www.flyingfamilies.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=320&Itemid=1). This is the display you can overlay on the PFD, but there is a wealth of [...]
Those three words, the prefix to an emergency radio call, are often practised both in the USA and the UK. Despite the fact that the ICAO language is English this is based on a French phrase (“Me” “aidez” – contracted to M’aidez – help me) and even though Britain and the USA share a common [...]
As pilots we hear this a lot from instructors and other pilots, but what does it actually mean in the air? The first part, Aviate, is adequately described by the joke about Prince Philip being take for a joyride in a De Haviland Moth. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about look up “Have [...]
