To view my full tutorial on how to use Windy for Flight Planning. See my previous blog post. Windy has recently made a (old) new model available for Canadian aviators to use for their short term flight planning: The High-Resolution Deterministic Prediction System. For years I’ve been touting the accuracy of the European Centre for…
One of the main advantages of flying is that you get to travel in straight lines. You know that saying: “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line”. Take, for example, this short flight from CNC3 to KERI. As the crow flies (over Lake Erie): 101nm or approx. 50 min of flying time….
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in August 2023. A lot has changed with Toronto’s airspace since then and this post has been updated accordingly with those changes and corrections to errors. A fellow aviator was asking me how to transit through Toronto (YYZ) airspace so that they could visit Buttonville (CYKZ) airport before…
An air traffic controller shortage in Toronto is starting to negatively effect general aviation across the city. Controlling Canada’s Airspace NavCanada is Canada’s non-profit organization that is responsible for managing traffic over the world’s second largest country. In addition they also manage traffic over the Atlantic Ocean as far east as Reykjavík, Iceland. They do…
Canada has some unique rules when it comes to instrument flight rules compared to the rest of the world. The reason for these rules was simple – Canada’s large geography and unique geographical position on the planet makes for some interesting situations whereby special rules needed to apply. Let’s take a look at two unique…
In Canada, there are three ways search and rescue (SAR) officials will initiate the start of a search for a missing aircraft. Of which, only two of them will be initiated automatically during certain events: The third way is “manual” activation by a responsible person who has been following the flight using a flight itinerary….
One thing they don’t teach you in flight school is how to fuel your aircraft. This is something I had to learn on my own years later. Some pilots may never have to learn this skill as a lot of airports have full service fuel pumps where the ramp attendant will do it for you….
Below are links to the hour webinar on how to use Windy (windy.com) to help with both local and cross country flying. Specific focus will be on VFR flying. Topics to include are: Some reviews by attendees: As someone who struggled with weather the most during my PPL, this certainly gives me a great tool…
Two airplanes are approaching an aerodrome at the same time. One is planning the straight in downwind for runway 33. The other, is planning on joining the mid-left downwind for 33. Both circuit entries are allowed by law (in Canada) in this situation as this is an uncontrolled airport. Both aircraft had made their required…
Back in 2010 the airport was sold off to Caddilac Fairview to be redeveloped into commercial and residential spaces. Thirteen years later (not far off from Mr. Sifton’s ten year prediction) the official closing date of Nov 30, 2023 was announced. I learned how to fly with Toronto Airways from that airport back in 2008…