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…
Every week (or so) I’m going to post of a photo of something aviation related along with a clue. It’s your job to guess what the part is by leaving a comment (using the link below). Named after the French physicist that invented it. Good luck!
The course outlines for the classes I will be taking at Seneca are now on line. Aeronautics The main textbook is “From the Ground Up” which I’ve already done about two thirds of the workbook. Some highlights: 1. Components, structure, loads, stresses, documents 2. Bernoulli’s Theorem, Newton’s Laws, airfoils and production of lift, weight and…
I got a call back from the FI I did my intro flight with the other day and she was able to answer all of the questions I had. She said that it might be possible for me to write my PSTAR exam before becoming an “official” student at the school. Just to come in…
The rear of an airplane both in the air and on the ground is a dangerous place. In the air you have to concern yourself with wake turbulance (not caused by the engines, but the wingtip vorticies). On the ground you have to worry about Jet and Prop blast. This “danger zone” is different depending…
Radio communication is a very important part of a pilots duties. There is specific protocol that needs to be followed in order for you to get your message across clearly in the shortest amount of time possible. Take a look at this example: Controller: “American 1778, contact tower now on 122.8. Good day” Aircraft: “Contact…
Seneca has finally updated their website with class schedules and information. Classes start the first week of Janurary! Here is what my schedule will look like: Monday: Human Factors Tuesday: Meterology Wednesday: Aeronautics Thursday: Computer Systems All classes are from 6:30pm – 9:30pm At Buttonville Airport, with the exception of Computer Systems. I’m going to…
I never thought that paint could be so heavy! In an effort to save cash, Air Canada is stripping some of their aircraft of most of its paint. Leaving the “au naturel” polished aluminum to bare the brunt of the elements. According to Air Canada, the paint weighs 360 pounds and takes about 12 days…
FAA Flight information is available to the public (I’m still trying to figure out how I can get that data). Aaron Koblin put together some pretty spiffy videos of this data. Each dot represents an airplane flying to or from the US. Be sure to check out the “overview documentation” (a video) on his website…
Went to the Seneca Open House with Melissa today. We were both somewhat disappointed, nobody was able to answer any of my questions about their part time course. I kept on getting redirected “to the website” and I kept on reminding them that it was out of date. I spent most of the time talking…