Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 20:16:42 ET

Seminole Flight Scrubbed

My class mate Lu has his Multi rating and was going to go on a flight tonight up to Collingwood and Haliburton to build some PIC time.

I was going to go along for the ride until this happened:

070083 CYKZ TORONTO/BUTTONVILLE MUNICIPAL CYKZ VDF U/S TIL 0703302000

070084 CYKZ TORONTO/BUTTONVILLE MUNICIPAL
CYKZ ALL REDL AND PAPI U/S
TIL 0703302100

Runway lights didn't come on when expected. We hung around the airport until 7:50 hoping they'd fix the lights, but no dice. Apparently there was some sort of power failure.

We'll try again tomorrow.

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Monday, March 26, 2007 - 16:53:23 ET

Quick Update

I'm still alive, just extremely busy right now.

I did go flying on the weekend, but in the right seat. You can read about it at Marks Blog.

The two last credits I need from Seneca are being offered next semester. It's going to be nice seeing my former teachers again. Frankly, I'm sick of my economics class.

My term paper for economics is due on Wednesday. My topic is the demise of JetsGo. What caused the company to fail (from an economics point of view) and has anyone else (ie, Air Canada, etc..) learned from their mistakes.

I still don't have my PPL yet - I'm working on it.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Training

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 06:25:24 ET

Possible No-Go on Flight Test

Argg!

My test is scheduled for 1300-1600 UTC, for which the TAF is forecasting 6SM vis in Fog with a broken layer at 1000'.

TAF CYKZ 130539Z 130618 18005KT P6SM OVC040 TEMPO 0814 6SM BR BKN010 OVC030 FM1400Z 23010KT P6SM BKN025 TEMPO 1417 BKN012 RMK NXT FCST BY 12Z=

A new TAF comes out at 1200 UTC - lets hope it's more promising.

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Monday, March 12, 2007 - 10:03:16 ET

Nice Spring Flying

Went up yesterday for some last minute practice before my exam tomorrow. It was a beautiful day to fly: 5°C and not a cloud in the sky (although the ATIS was reporting few at 26,000').

During my run-up I hear Ground telling everyone to contact Tower on 119.9 for departures. Oh no! I immediately flashed back to the "poker run" last summer.

I'm number three waiting to take off.. not bad. I decide to do a circuit before heading north to practice.

My second take-off was right behind a 150. The 150s are smaller and slower than the 172s.

Tower: "Are you able an immediate take-off?"
Me: "affirmative"
Tower: "Taxi into position and hold, keep the power on, follow the 150 in front of you, fly runway heading and contact tower on 124.4 when airborne".

By the time I roll into position Tower already cleared me to take off.

This is the first time I've had to contact another frequency while climbing out. Not a problem though, I made it part of my pre-take off checklist: flaps up, mixture rich, landing light off, check runway tracking, contact tower on 124.4:

Me: "Buttonville tower, DQG with you on 124.4"

As I suspected, I overtook the 150 at a blazing 105KIAS.

People were making positions calls left, right, and centre in the practice area. I saw probably 5 planes on the way up to Keswick all going in different directions. I was able to find a little pocket (my favorite, just east of Keswick on the east side of Cooks Bay, near Baldwin) to do some upper air work.

I decided to come back in at 1,800' (thats low) just to keep out of everyones way. Little did I know that you can't pick up the ATIS from that height from where I was. Coming back was no big deal, just had to switch back to 119.9 on final.

1.3 hours logged.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Training

Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 13:11:08 ET

Toronto Airspace Changes Explained

Got this via the Buttonville Flying Club:

On 5 July, 2007 there will be change in the classification and size of certain airspace near Toronto. Currently, the Terminal Control Area (TCA)extends to 26 nm with a floor of 3,500 feet ASL up to 12,500. The TCA is Class C mode C, meaning a clearance and a mode C transponder is required to enter.

A new ring of airspace will extend from 26 nm to 65 nm with a floor of 6,500 feet ASL up to 12,500. This airspace will be Class E mode C, meaning there is no requirement to contact ATC for a clearance to enter, but a mode C transponder will be required to fly through this new segment of airspace.

This is a much better solution that the "wedges" they were talking about earlier.

The full text is available for download as a pdf.

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Thursday, March 8, 2007 - 20:04:05 ET

Torontos Airspace is Changing

Remember a while back when I went on the tour of the Toronto ACC? I had mentioned that my tour guide will be speaking at Buttonville at some point. Well, that time has come. This Monday, March 12th at 7pm:

The speaker will be Kurtis Arnold from Nav Canada who will talk about flying in the Toronto Class C airspace, including extensive changes to this airspace that will be coming along about July. I have heard him talk before about this and it promises to be a great and informative evening.

It will be in Classroom 1. I plan on attending.

I did mention the pending changes last October (about one third the way down the post) but we'll hear it from the horses mouth on Monday.

Anyone who flies in and around Toronto should attend to get a heads up.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Wednesday, March 7, 2007 - 22:21:21 ET

94% Of Canadian Pilots are Male

There are 64,051 registered pilots (including Air Traffic Controllers) in Canada, only 4,021 of them are female.

And I thought the IT industry was bad.

The total number of pilots with ATPLs: 10,819 males and 496 females. There are 14,754 instrument rated pilots.

Aeroplane Licence Types

Number of Licences & Permits By Type

All of this information is current as of December 2006 and from the Transport Canada website.

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Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - 20:56:57 ET

New CFS Looking Spiffy

I got the latest CFS from NavCanada today and was surprised to find a new look. According to the enclosed note the changes aren't just going to be the cover:

While the cover of these publications look different from what you are used to, you should be aware that more substantive changes are planned as well. Over the next few months a number of changes will be made to the organization of data and the data itself that will both improve and standardize the products.

The letter also states that any upcoming changes will be made known via an AIC. Let's hope that this includes digital versions of the CFS and CAP.

Word on the street is that there will be some changes to the Toronto airspace come summer time. Anyone know what it is?

Update: You can see a photo of the cover at Land and Hold Short

Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Friday, March 2, 2007 - 11:04:55 ET

Sticky Situations

Sulako's recent post about stuck mikes gave me the idea to post all of the audio clips I've found with people in similar situations.

I've been in a stuck mike situation myself, but realized it before I made a fool out of my self.

Some of these clips may contain expletives, so be prepared.

(most of these clips have come from liveatc.net)

Circuit Training - This sounds like an instructor teaching a student how to land the airplane. This clip is over 4 minutes long!

Controller Change - This guy is talking like a mad man. He's giving an overview of whats going on to the female controller you hear in the background during a shift change.

Go Around at JFK - A stuck mike causes a Virgin air plane to go around as there is an aircraft holding position on a runway. The tower can't communicate with the plane on the runway to give him his take off clearance due to a stuck mike. In a classic JFK response the controller "thanks" the pilot who had the stuck mike.

Performing Checklist - Comair pilot performing his pre-landing checks. He chimes in with a "blah blah blah" every now and then.

Dropping the F-Bomb - Pilot or controller (not sure) realizes he has a stuck mike just after saying a few words.

Swearing on Frequency - A controller is frustrated when he can't contact an aircraft not realizing that *his* mike is the stuck one.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things