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Are you a pilot who cancels too many flights?

Are you a pilot who cancels too many flights? – Golf Hotel Whiskey.

John Zimmerman has written an interesting post for Air Facts Journal in response to comments from their “Go or no go” series to ask the question: Do you cancel too many flights? To first put things in perspective: John says that the comments the series has received are revealing because a number of pilots appear to be uncomfortable flying in anything less than clear skies and unlimited visibility. In fact, he might even go so far as to say that the aviation community has beaten everyone over the head with the risk management stick so much that some pilots are afraid to fly in IFR.

 

The article covers a trend I’ve been seeing in aviation for the last few years, namely the wuss factor.  Pilots these days are so safety conscious they won’t go an “take a look”.  I talk to guys who worked hard for their IFR rating but still only fly when it’s clear and a million.  I’m not saying they should go up and do something stupid or beyond their abilities, but come on, go get your plane wet once in a while.

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Ferry Flight Pic of The Day

When flying from Goose Bay Labrador to Europe ferry pilots either stop in Narsarsuaq Greenland for fuel or if you’ve got the legs or fly non-stop to Iceland.  Both routs are beautiful with the direct path taking you over the southern tip of Greenland and if you need to stop for gas you get to fly over the ice cap.  The fjords leading to Narsarsuaq Greenland aren’t as striking and beautiful as the southern tip of the big island but it’s still pretty dang cool.  I think the ridge in the picture is at 60*52’54N  45*44’49W  Check it out on Google earth then move down to the southern tip of Greenland and see what I mean.

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Ferry Flight Pic of The Day

Being a ferry pilot is a great job if you like to travel and see other countries but sometimes it can be very frustrating.  Flying a low altitudes in an aircraft with great visibility lets you really see what you’re missing as the landscape passes below you.  I don’t know how many times a day I look down and say to myself  “Wow! That’s cool, I wish I was down there.”  only to have whatever I was looking at disappear behind me never to be seen again.  In the photo is a small village I saw while flying over Italy, or maybe Greece, that was miles from anywhere and isolated by mountains on every side.  I imagined my wife and I renting a car and driving for hours along the narrow road as it wound it’s way through the mountains to the village, stopping along the way for a glass of wine and some authentic local food at a small family restaurant followed by a night at a hotel that’s hundreds of years old.  Who knows, maybe someday.  I should have marked it on my GPS.

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Turn Off The Damn Autopilot


If you’re a pilot who use’s the autopilot a lot you should take the time to watch this video.  The speaker makes some great points about how some pilots get so dependent on the autopilot that it actually increases work load in some critical situations instead of reducing it.  I personally never use the autopilot to fly approaches, even in low instrument conditions.  I like to hand fly the plane as much as possible not only to keep my skills up but because I like flying approaches and don’t want to share the fun with a damn electronic box.

 

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Ferry Flight Pic of The Day

I saw this sand sculpture on the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.  The only reason I was there was because I couldn’t get an over flight permit for Israel and had to fly around it after leaving Jordan en route to Crete.  The lat long is 29* 10’25.54N  34*42’11.13E if you want to check it out on Google earth.