Friday, August 29, 2008 - 15:43:10 ET

VOT Facilities Being Decomissioned

AIC 36/08 outlines NavCanadas latest decommissioning project.

NAV CANADA, the country's provider of civil air navigation services, recently evaluated the requirement for very high frequency omnidirectional range (VOR) receiver test facilities (VOT) in Canada.

The review concluded that VOT sites are underutilized and no longer required. This fact is partly because of the increased use of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) for primary navigation and partly because many VOR receivers are equipped with an internal self-test function.

Accordingly, VOT sites will be decommissioned, starting in November 2008. It is expected that decommissioning all the current VOT sites will take several years.

Personally, I've never used one before. Does this mean that they will be removing the VOT related questions from the PPL/CPL written?

They are requesting users submit their comments about the decommissioning schedule.

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Friday, August 29, 2008 - 11:07:32 ET

To Change A Lightbulb...

I was driving by the airport the other day and noticed that some obstruction lighting on telephone poles near the approach of 33 were burnt out (and have been for months).

Does anyone know who I should contact to get that fixed? It's off airport property, so I don't think it would be the Airports responsibility. Transport Canada? Nav Canada? The local utility company?

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 21:15:15 ET

Book Review: So You Want To Be A Pilot, Eh?

Title: So You Want To Be A Pilot, Eh?
Author: James Ball
ISBN: 9780978130916
Size: 216 Pages

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Although I'm already a pilot, I thought it would be interesting to read this book -- just to see if I would learn anything new. Guess what, I did!

The book covers all the topics and frequently asked questions people have about being a pilot, specifically for Canadians. It goes over, in detail, things like getting your medical, the PPL exam, and all the other ratings you can get.

There is a perfect balance of information. "Both" sides are represented. Reasons TO and reasons TO NOT be a pilot are fully explored.

One of the sections that was most interesting to me were the Appendices. This is the *only* location I know of where you can see a sample resume of a pilot. Along with sample interview questions asked by Air Canada and WesJet. Sure you can get these elsewhere, but they usually charge an arm and a leg for them.

There is some great advice with regards to your training and what to do and not do. The author also talks about The Webster Trophy, something I have never heard of until now. Tips on how to find your first job were also helpful to me.

There is even a few cameo appearances giving advice in the book.

All in all I suggest that every wanna-be pilot read this book so that they can get a better feel for what it REALLY is to be a pilot. If you aren't discouraged by what you read here, then you truly are meant to be a pilot.

Two things I want to ad: This book as a facebook group, as well as it's own blog. Check them out!

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008 - 20:36:23 ET

Toronto Propane Explosion, as heard from YYZ Ground

There was a recent fire in the Toronto area that was being fed from propane. There was some discussion about the incident at YYZ, on the ground frequency.

It's interesting to note that there was no hotel on fire and the military was never called in. Clip provided by liveatc.net.

More information about the incident can be found at CBC News.

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Monday, August 25, 2008 - 10:29:13 ET

Space Shuttle Launch

This is a really cool video!

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Monday, August 18, 2008 - 11:40:18 ET

Busy, busy, busy.

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone. My day job is keeping me busy with the Olympics, plus some events in my personal life have also kept me away from flying.

That said, I do plan on having a few updates in the next week or so. So stay tuned for those!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

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Friday, August 8, 2008 - 15:02:59 ET

CRM? What about SRM?

We've all heard of CRM. But what about Single Pilot Resource Management?

The University of Western Ontario has a course on Single Pilot Resource Management. The course is only $50, and totally online.

This would be an excellent course to take for GA pilots as its focus is on cockpit resource management for single pilot operations. Resource management is different when you are alone and there isn't someone else to share the load.

This course goes beyond the "aviate, navigate, communicate" method of resource management.

For a full review of the course and what it offers, check out this article from COPA.

I plan on taking the course and reporting back my experience.

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Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - 09:46:55 ET

Air Routes Vs. Airways

I discovered an air route by accident the other day while taking a close look at my Toronto VNC.

I had never heard of an air route before until I dug a little deeper.

Air routes differ over airways in that they are in uncontrolled airspace. That is, air routes are not controlled by ATC, unlike airways.

They may pass through controlled airspace, but the space on either side of the route is not class E, like an airway is. "Pygmie" on avcanada.ca explains it this way:

The designators AR and BR (there might be a couple others) are used to designate air routes and while part of the airway [i think he meant air route] may be within controlled airspace, they do not "create" controlled airspace.

You will be able to see them on your charts are are usually designated with names like AR30.

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Friday, August 1, 2008 - 19:45:41 ET

Overlapping Airways

I was looking at the Designated Airspace Handbook tonight and noticed something peculiar.

The DAH is the legal document that describes Canada's airspace. It defines all airspace from control zones, special use areas, classes A through F as well as low level airways.

I noticed this oddity for LF/MF airway A-2 and A-15:

A2
Calgary, AB NDB \ to
Red Deer, AB NDB \ to
Edmonton, AB NDB \ to
Whitecourt, AB NDB \ to
Grande Prairie, AB NDB \ to
Dawson Creek, BC NDB \ to
Fort St. John, BC NDB \ to
Fort Nelson, BC NDB \ to
Liard River, BC NDB \ to
Watson Lake, YT NDB \ to
Whitehorse, YT NDB
. . .
Beaver Creek, YT NDB \ to
Nabesna, AK USA NDB

A15
Banne, BC Intxn \ to
Nichols, AK USA NDB
. . .
Beaver Creek, YT NDB \ to
Nabesna, AK USA NDB

You will notice that the last segments of each airway overlap each other (Beaver Creek NDB to Nabesna NDB). How does that work? Can the same airway have TWO designations? Is this an error?

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