Fly With Blake

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-03-11T20:52:40Z

The weather in Southern Ontario has been awesome this past week. It's a shame I haven't been up in the air to take advantage of it.

What I have been working on though is a new release of World Flight Planner. It's been taking up most of my time outside of work. I'm working hard with my buddy Doug to get it up to version 1.0.

My rental currency expired last weekend. I tried to get in a flight, however the weather didn't co-operate. This is the main reason why I want to purchase my own plane. Being subject to the 30 day rental currency at the school is frustrating at times.

There is a chance that I will be out in PEI this June for the COPA Convention, showcasing above flight planning software. Let me know if you're planning on attending as well!

UPDATE: Captain Sullenburger's Last Flight

2010-03-05T18:49:31Z

(Update, some users may have had issues playing the clips. It has been resolved).

Captain Sully is no longer flying, as he has retired from US Airways. LiveATC.net has captured his last departure from Fort Lauderdale Airport, and his last arrival at Charlotte, NC.

Listen to the Departure Clip or the Arrival Clip

The Science And Technology of ATC

2010-03-05T01:06:15Z

Ars Technica has a great article on the Science and Technology of ATC.

It is a good primer on everything from transponders, radar, ADS-B, even VHF and HF voice communications.

It contains some pretty neat photos of control centres (in the states). Definitely a good read for pilots and anyone interested in ATC.

Flying Cheap

2010-03-03T21:33:57Z

PBS has a pretty good documentary called Flying Cheap. It is a look at regional airlines, specifically Colgan Air who was responsible for the Dash 8 crash last year.

The documentary explains how the big airliners essentially contract out these smaller companies to run their regional operations. The scary thing is, that in the USA, these smaller companies are responsible for more than 50% of all air traffic.

Extremely interesting.

One other video I found interesting was this one of a Piper porpoising while trying to land. It finally took the 7th bounce for the nose wheel to sheer off. There is no shame in overshooting! (thanks Dave, for the link!)

Operation Yellow Ribbon

2010-02-26T21:58:48Z

Operation Yellow Ribbon is the name of the operation that Transport Canada created to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights following the September 11 attacks in 2001.

As a result of Operation Yellow Ribbon, 255 aircraft were diverted to 17 different airports across the country. - Wikipedia

NBC will be airing a documentary of the same name, this Sunday at 7pm as part of the Olympic coverage. It is scheduled to air before the closing ceremonies.

There was a sneak peak of the video on You Tube, but it has since been removed.

Continental Flight 3407

2010-02-26T17:37:46Z

I was going to do a write up about the Dash 8 Crash that happened a year ago. The NTSB has released their final report on the accident.

However, Sylvia at Fear of Landing beat me to it, and did a superb job and summarizing the report.

Feb 23: National Aviation Day

2010-02-22T21:22:30Z

National Aviation Day was declared in 2009 by the Honourable John Baird, MP, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

This yearly celebration will allow us to remember our past achievements and help chart the course of Canada's aviation and aerospace futures.

To celebrate this day a Career Day and Job Fair at the Canada Aviation Museum is being held tomorrow.

This is a good opportunity to listen to presenters from Air Canada, Transport Canada, Bombardier and others!

Canadian IFR Approach Plates

2010-02-21T19:58:09Z

I just discovered this online today. The Canadian Air Pilot are approach plates from Nav Canada for all airports in Canada with IFR approaches.

The country is divided up into 6 sections, each section has their own plate booklet (two for Quebec, one in English and the other in French). You can find PDF copies of the latest versions in the Nav Canada AIP section.

Flying Or Love?

2010-02-14T00:00:00Z

You might have heard the about who the latest Bachelor is on the current season of The Bachelor. This season is called "on the wings of love" because the Bachelor is a pilot.

I scoffed at Jake when he said:"love is bigger than flying". I blurted: "If he was a true pilot, he would pick flying over love". This ensued into a debate with my girlfriend.

I know of people who have picked their careers over marriage and love. My position was that if he touts himself as a true pilot, then he would pick flying over love. This is because flying is his love and passion and nothing else.

"Don't be so logical!" my girlfriend rebutted.

Some pilots choose to be single because they don't want to be tied down. They like to be free! (Why else do they fly?). It takes a very special man or women to be able to put up with someone who flys for a living. The work schedules, pay, and danger (some people feel flying is risky) can all play havoc on your relationship.

"You like to fly, but you didn't pick that over me!" she continues.

That's because I don't truly love to fly. I like to pilot aircraft because it's fun, exciting, and challenging all at the same time. It's a good way to keep my mind active by learning new things. It's also a great way to share some unique experiences with other people. There are people who are a thousand times more "in love" with flying than I am.

The only thing I will truly love is Sara, but flying comes a close second!

For something fun, plop this route into your flight planner:

CPG7 YMS CPM5 ZDH CZBA CYFD CNM4 CPD2 CPC6 CNH3 CPG7

I call it the "heart flight".

Happy Valentines Day!

A Typical Flight With Blake

2010-02-11T14:04:24Z

I had the pleasure of flying Jim and my co-worker Massimo this past September around the city.

Great times had by all, Jim captured it for posterity and posted it on You Tube. Check out the video! (your RSS reader might not display it properly)

Want to Work for NavCanada?

2010-02-11T10:26:58Z

NavCanada will be at the The National Job Fair and Training Expo in Toronto. Wednesday March 24th, 2010.

You will be able to find them in Booth # 912, in the Employment Pavillion. At the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

I might swing by that day since I literally work across the street.

Do You Monitor 121.5?

2010-02-01T18:34:57Z

It's been a year since the cospas-sarsat program stopped monitoring 121.5Mhz for distress signals. However, Transport Canada has provided a grace period for aircraft owners to move to the new 406Mhz ELTs.

This means that potentially nobody is listening on 121.5Mhz for the ELT signal.

The new system offers way more advantages to the old one. Mainly the ability to encode your GPS location in the distress signal so that Search and Rescue can come to your aid more quickly.

To be honest, whenever I've flown an aircraft with dual radios, I've never tuned to 121.5Mhz on the secondary radio. I mostly used the secondary radio to listen to traffic/calls for the area that I would be entering in the future.

The new 407Mhz ELTs still broadcast on 121.5Mhz along with distress calls and communications by intercepting aircraft. So my question to you is, do you still monitor 121.5?

[Note: I updated to correct the article. Thanks Richard!]

Logbook Updated

2010-01-31T14:54:48Z

I spent the last two hours cleaning up my logbook and putting in missing entries. Let this be a lesson! Always update your logbook after every flight!

I've updated the my hours on this site, on the left hand side. It's nice to see that I've broken the 200 Hour mark. Shame I don't have a CPL to show for it (yet).

Flying, According to Rick Mercer

2010-01-20T12:39:42Z

Here is a funny clip from the Rick Mercer Report (a show on CBC here in Canada) about the recent security changes for flights in to the USA.

He also has an interesting (and funny) look at some of the behind the scenes at Vancouver International Airport.

Loran-C No More In the USA

2010-01-13T09:38:41Z

The United States Coast Guard is going to terminate the LORAN-C service this February. The full service shutdown wont be complete until October of this year.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has certified that the Loran-C system infrastructure is not needed as a backup to the GPS system or to meet any other federal navigation requirement.

More information can be found on Inside GNSS.

I've never been formally trained on how to use LORAN-C for navigation, however I have flown aircraft with the equipment on board.

I agree that we do need a backup to GPS however I dont think current navaid technology (VORs, NDBs) are good enough. LORAN-C seemed like the perfect tool.

Have you ever used LORAN-C? Does this affect you at all?

I don't believe there are any LORAN-C transmitters in Canada.