One thing you need to do that wasn’t really taught (to me) was how to calculate when you’re flying at night (or Legal Night as us pilots like to call it).

This is important for a few reasons:

- If you don’t have a night rating, you need to know when you need to be wheels down and engine off.

- If you do have a night rating, then you need to know when you can log your hours as night.

- I’m sure airport operators needs this information for when to turn various …

A friend of mine mentioned that it would be cool to have “a million dollars” to have his own airport. I told him that all you need is space to land an airplane and you can do just that, legally.

Without referencing anything, I told him that you are allowed to land on private property as long as you have permission. If you own the land, then there should be no question as to the legal ramifications of landing an airplane on your parcel of land.

The conversation ended there but I …

A while back I posed the question “Does an airplane in 45° bank experience more G forces than a slower one?”

The quick answer: No. The G forces (or load factor) on the aircraft does not change based on the speed you are flying.

The equation to calculate load factor (n) is as follows:

Where Theta is the angle of bank.

Since the angle of bank determines the load factor and not speed, a faster aircraft at 45° will experience the same load factor of a slower aircraft at the same angle of bank.

The …

There are two “types” of uncontrolled airports, both of which have different rules and procedures.

An uncontrolled aerodrome is one where a control tower does not exist or is not in operation. For example, Buttonville is an uncontrolled aerodrome while the tower is closed (between 2300-0700 local time).

Because the traffic is not controlled, it is important that users of the aerodrome follow the procedures exactly. This ensures that your actions are predictable to other traffic that may be coming and going.

Mandatory Frequency

Aeordromes with a MF specified in the CFS must use …

Documents and Airworthiness

Q: With respect the Air Regulations, what documents are required to be on board for every flight.

A: Certificate of Registration, Certificate of Airworthiness, Weight and Balance Report, Journey Logbook, POH, Licences (radiotelephone medical, and pilots licence), Interception Orders, proof of insurance.

Certificate of Registration

Q: What does the Certificate of Registration tell you?

A: Gives the nationality and registration mark, aircraft manufacturer, model and serial number, the purpose, name and address of the owner, owner registration date, certificate issue date, and signature for the Minister of Transport.

Q: How long is the …

I am going to illustrate how to intercept a NDB track using MS Flight Simulator 2004 in a perfect world (no wind to worry about).

There are certain times that you will need to track to a NDB at a particular heading. This is mainly used in two situations:

1. You are using NDB (LF/MF) airways.

2. You are using a NDB approach into an airport.

In this example we want to intercept the Buttonville (KZ) NDB at 150°.

Step One – Tune and Identify

The first step involves tuning your nav radio to the Buttonville …

There are five types of attitudes that can be considered “hazardous”. It is these attitudes that make us do things that have consequences that outweigh the reward.

Anti-Authority

Someone who “breaks the rules”. The thinking of “I know better than the boss” falls under this category.

Example: Not following SOP or the CAR.

Impulsivity

Reacting before spending some time to think about your actions.

Example: Skipping items in a checklist because you’re in a rush. Not doing a HASEL check because you’re pressed for time.

Invulnerability

“Oh, nothing’s going to happen to me” or “Bad things always happen …

A plane needs air to be able to fly. Thanks to the laws of physics, the same parcel of air can have different characteristics based on temperature and altitude. Because of this, there are a few things we have to be careful of while trying to keep that hunk of metal afloat.

Let’s take a look at some fundamental “laws” of air (and all gases for that matter), as they apply to flying:

- As altitude increases, air pressure decreases

- As air temperature increases, air pressure decreases (Gay-Lussac’s law)

- As relative humidity …

Take a look a the map that I photoshopped the other day as a reference. Today I’m going to talk about the different classes of airspace around Buttonville.

There are actually 5 classes of airspace around Buttonville, but you can only see four of them on my map.

Lets start off with what you can see and I’ve highlighted.

Class Charlie

Class “C” (or Charlie) airspace is the most common (I think) airspace in and around Toronto.

Rules:

- You must have a radio

- You must have a transponder

- You must have clearance before entering the …

I spent some time today looking at the Toronto VTA and the CFS entries for Buttonville (YKZ), Downsview (YZD), Pearson (YYZ), and Toronto Island (YTZ) airports. My goal was to try and understand the airspace around my home airport (Buttonville).

I think I’ve figured it out. But first, some definitions:

Control Zone

Those are the highlighted areas around the aerodromes (blue for class “C” airspace, red for class “D” and green for class “E”). Their purpose is to offer better control between IFR and VFR traffic. They are only present around aerodromes with …