Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - 12:43:00 ET

Getting your .aero domain name.

I learned a few weeks ago that pilots are eligible to registrar .aero domain names. The original intention of this new top level domain was to give the aerospace industry a better "presence" on the web.

The entity responsible for this TLD is called SITA. Which may sound familiar as they create the communications systems for air traffic control, airlines, etc...

Getting your .aero domain involves a verification step to prove that you are a pilot. I did this by e-mailing SITA a copy of my pilot license. You can also fax or snail mail a copy as well.

Once verified, you are given a username and password to use when registering your domain name with a registrar. There is a two year minimum commitment when you first register the domain name.

The cheapest I found was $60USD/yr (which by .com or .net standards is almost 10 times the price) at NamesBeyond.com.

This is a good idea if you don't mind paying the price for a domain that might not be available in the other TLD name space.

So why did I do it? Because I can. Right now www.blakecrosby.aero redirects to this site. Not sure what I'm going to do with the domain, if anything.

Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 11:03:20 ET

Added Captcha To Site

I get a lot of comment spam. 99.9% of it is blocked because I don't allow URLs in my comments.

Unfortunately this causes a few legitimate comments to end up being deleted because they contain urls.

From now on, you will have to prove you are human by entering in a code before hitting the submit button. You will only see if if you have javascript enabled.

If for whatever reason you cannot post a comment, please let me know so I can fix the problem.

Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Site News

Monday, November 26, 2007 - 13:56:24 ET

Ontario Highway Traffic Act and Aeroplanes

All throughout our training we've been told to know how to read and interpret the CARs.

However, what happens if you have to make an emergency landing on a road? You are now subject to the Highway Traffic Act.

Section 187 of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act states clearly what the responsibilities and consequences are of operating an aircraft on Ontario roads.

In essence here is what you can and can't do:

You are allowed to make an emergency landing on a road without penalty or charges so long as you remove the aircraft from the road as soon as possible.

If you would like to take off from a roadway, you need to ensure the following:

1. A licensed commercial pilot that is not the owner of the aircraft in question, along with the pilot in command, ensures that the aircraft is airworthy and that there are no obstructions on or over the road/highway.

2. The pilot in command is satisfied that the weather conditions warrant an VFR take-off, or an IFR take-off with arrangements made with the proper ATS unit.

3. The road is closed by the police.

4. The police agrees to the take-off.

If you are caught taking off from a road/highway without following the above rules, you can be fined up to $10,000.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 21:45:09 ET

Building Commercial Time: Interpreting the CARS

There has been some discussion and confusion among some of the people I've talked to with regards to logging time to put towards your commercial license.

In an attempt to clear some of this up, I have put my interpretation of the CARS below. Please feel free to chime in with your comments.

The CARS state that you need 200 hours of total time for your CPL. Of those 200 hours 100 hours need to be pilot in command. The following question was asked: "Can you log time towards your CPL if you have a passenger?"

As far as I understand the answer is yes. You are pilot-in-command, therefore you can log the hours as such. However, if you are renting an airplane, is your rental PST exempt (and eligible for tuition tax credit) if you are taking a passenger up for the purposes of building commercial time? I got mixed responses from various people. From what I understand (by interpreting the CARS only) is that your rental should be PST exempt and eligible for the tuition tax credit for the reason that you are renting the plane for the purposes of building commercial time, regardless if there is a passenger or not.

Some of the ambiguousness of the CARS has to do with the fact there are no defined definitions for the terms "solo" and "pilot-in-command". Take my next question: "Can you take a passenger on your 300nm required trip?".

The CARS (421.30(4)(a)(ii)(B)(I)) says:

25 hours solo flight time emphasizing the improvement of general flying skills of the applicant which shall include a cross-country flight to a point of a minimum of 300 nautical mile radius from the point of departure and shall include a minimum of 3 landings at points other than that of departure;

Here the term "solo" is used rather than "pilot-in-command". This leads me to believe that you cannot bring any passengers on that trip as it must be completed alone.

You're probably thinking to your self: "Just don't log a passenger in your log book for your trip!". I thought the same. Again,looking at the CARS (401.08(2)), nowhere does it say that you need to record that you took passengers in your log book.

What is your interpretation of the CARS? Do you agree with what I've said so far? To summarize:

- Building time for your CPL with passengers is allowed and should be PST exempt and tax deductible from rental fees (if you are eligible).
- You must make the 300nm trip alone, with no passengers.
- There is no requirement to record if you took passengers or not in your log book. Only if you were pilot in command or not.

Comments (4) | Permalink | Category: Training

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 10:45:47 ET

It's That Time Of Year Again

METAR CYKZ 221500Z 02016G22KT 1 1/2SM -SN BLSN OVC015 M04/M05 A2980 RMK SN6SF2 SLP101=

The METAR says it all.

Let's hope this winter is mostly dominated by high pressure systems :)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Training

Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 20:45:52 ET

CADORS

I've been distracted by Guitar Hero the past few weeks. My training for multi-ifr stuff doesn't start until the end of December so I'm taking this opportunity to break from flying a bit.

I do have a plane booked on Sunday. Assuming the weather is good (and my g/f wants to go) we'll head up in the Warrior. Destination unknown.

Toronto Airways increased the prices of their intro flights. From $69 to $80. If for some reason you cant fit in a 150 due to weight, then you can get an intro flight in a 172 for $100.

Today I discovered CADORS (Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System). Its a reporting system used by Transport Canada. It pretty much includes every incident that has happened in Canadian Airspace. There are about 95,000 records dating back to 1993. Things like infractions of the CARS to actual accidents are noted.

Doing a search for all entries at Buttonville yielded 338 records (of which 55 are Toronto Airways related). Most of the recent entries were reported by the tower (Nav Canada):

A Helicopter inbound for landing at Toronto Buttonville (CYKZ) reported a kite 1 mile North of the field at 1600'. The helicopter was leaving 1700' at the time. York Regional Police informed.

A Flighexec Piper PA31T flight FEX500 on the ground at Buttonville Airport (CYKZ) inadvertently activated the aircraft's ELT for approximately 3,5 minutes. No impact to operations.

Some notable entries (these links don't work). Turns out that the urls are based individual sessions. I haven't figured out a way to link directly to specific CADOR entries. If I do, I will update this page.

- Someone trying to land on a road, rather than runway.
- The reason why some planes have carb ice detectors.
- The destruction of NFX's nose wheel.
- How the seminoles prop got damaged.
- What happens when someone hits a bird on a touch and go.
- Details about the microburst that broke a few planes in the summer.
- IFR flight had to return because a 30 year old circuit breaker failed.
- Some smart thinking during an incident on a students first solo.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Monday, November 5, 2007 - 22:31:07 ET

Quick Update

I sat down on the computer with the intention of writing a nice blog entry about my x-country to Brantford but got distracted instead.

So here is quick point form rundown.

- Took a few pictures of the trip to YFD.
- Found a great place online to find cheap POHs with fast shipping.
- News46 is at it again with his amazing pics.
- I start my Multi-IFR training Dec 22.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Training