Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News

On Christmas Day, 2006, a tornado destroyed more than 40 airplanes belonging to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. But this year, as Hurricane Irma began tracking toward Florida, the University was prepared with an evacuation plan for its aircraft. Veenen Udayan, an instructor pilot at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, FL, was a team leader for moving Embry's 63 aircraft out of the path of hurricane Irma, and relocating them at the Auburn University Airport, and at Atlantic Aviation at the Birmingham Airport, both in Alabama. In this interview, he talks about Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the flight planning and the advance coordination required with ATC to fit so many IFR aircraft into the system at one time. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I'll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

On Christmas Day, 2006, a tornado destroyed more than 40 airplanes belonging to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. But this year, as Hurricane Irma began tracking toward Florida, the University was prepared with an evacuation plan for its aircraft. Veenen Udayan, an instructor pilot at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, FL, was a team leader for moving Embry’s 63 aircraft out of the path of hurricane Irma, and relocating them at the Auburn University Airport, and at Atlantic Aviation at the Birmingham Airport, both in Alabama. In this interview, he talks about Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the flight planning and the advance coordination required with ATC to fit so many IFR aircraft into the system at one time. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

Remote Area Medical (RAM) is working to deploy it's fleet of aircraft to Puerto Rico, which will be the forward base from which their Cessna Caravan will fly supplies to the islands hardest hit by Hurricane Irma. RAM was founded over 30 years ago, and has helped provide medical services to over 100,000 people. They are looking for volunteer pilots and healthcare professionals to provide services in underserved areas in the U.S. and the Caribbean. They currently need pilots who can fly their Caravans and their King Air 200. You can find the Remote Area Medical webpage here and their Facebook page here. In this episode, we interview RAM founder Stan Brock about the organization, and learned how doctors, dentists, optometrists, and pilots can help the organization by volunteering their time, or donating money. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I'll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

Remote Area Medical (RAM) is working to deploy it’s fleet of aircraft to Puerto Rico, which will be the forward base from which their Cessna Caravan will fly supplies to the islands hardest hit by Hurricane Irma. RAM was founded over 30 years ago, and has helped provide medical services to over 100,000 people. They are looking for volunteer pilots and healthcare professionals to provide services in underserved areas in the U.S. and the Caribbean. They currently need pilots who can fly their Caravans and their King Air 200. You can find the Remote Area Medical webpage here and their Facebook page here. In this episode, we interview RAM founder Stan Brock about the organization, and learned how doctors, dentists, optometrists, and pilots can help the organization by volunteering their time, or donating money. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

Twelve days ago, Operation Airdrop didn't exist. What did exist was dozens of towns in Texas that were cut off from the outside world by Hurricane Harvey's flood waters, downed trees, and power lines. After driving a trailer load of supplies to Rockport, TX, Doug Jackson wondered if general aviation airplanes could be used to fly in relief supplies to isolated communities. Twelve days later, over 200 Aircraft from Mexico and all over U.S. have flown over 500 flights and delivered over 250,000 pounds of supplies. All with small, general aviation aircraft. Now the focus of the operation shifts to Florida, where Hurricane Irma is still raging as this show is being released. In our interview with Doug Jackson, he describes the catalyst for the organization--a moving encounter with a down-on-his-luck man with a sick dog--how the operation was set up in such a short period of time, and how pilots can donate money or use their airplane to deliver badly needed hurricane relief supplies. You can find the Operation Airdrop webpage here and their Facebook page here. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I'll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

Twelve days ago, Operation Airdrop didn’t exist. What did exist was dozens of towns in Texas that were cut off from the outside world by Hurricane Harvey's flood waters, downed trees, and power lines. After driving a trailer load of supplies to Rockport, TX, Doug Jackson wondered if general aviation airplanes could be used to fly in relief supplies to isolated communities. Twelve days later, over 200 Aircraft from Mexico and all over U.S. have flown over 500 flights and delivered over 250,000 pounds of supplies. All with small, general aviation aircraft. Now the focus of the operation shifts to Florida, where Hurricane Irma is still raging as this show is being released. In our interview with Doug Jackson, he describes the catalyst for the organization--a moving encounter with a down-on-his-luck man with a sick dog--how the operation was set up in such a short period of time, and how pilots can donate money or use their airplane to deliver badly needed hurricane relief supplies. You can find the Operation Airdrop webpage here and their Facebook page here. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

We asked listeners to the Aviation News Talk podcast to send us their favorite aviation joke or pilot joke. What we learned is this: pilots have a good sense of humor! Most people are involved in aviation to have fun, and nothing lightens up an airplane cockpit like a good aviation joke! We found some great jokes and this show is a compilation of the best aviation jokes we could find. So sit back, relax and have fun listening to the show. And if you like the jokes, feel free to share with others, or post your own favorite jokes for me on Google+ or Twitter. And remember, have fun and keep the blue side up! Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I'll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

We asked listeners to the Aviation News Talk podcast to send us their favorite aviation joke or pilot joke. What we learned is this: pilots have a good sense of humor! Most people are involved in aviation to have fun, and nothing lightens up an airplane cockpit like a good aviation joke! We found some great jokes and this show is a compilation of the best aviation jokes we could find. So sit back, relax and have fun listening to the show. And if you like the jokes, feel free to share with others, or post your own favorite jokes for me on Google+ or Twitter. And remember, have fun and keep the blue side up! Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

In July 2017, Glynn Falcon had a crash while taking off in his Piper Arrow at the Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, CA. His plane was there for maintenance, and he was planning to fly it back to his home airport in Marina, CA. Immediately after rotation, he observed that the aircraft made an uncommanded roll to the left. Realizing he was unable to control the aircraft, he pulled the power, and the plane was destroyed in the crash. Glynn survived with minor injuries. In this episode, he describes the factors that led to the crash, and what he learned from his first flight instructor that helped him avoid what is often a fatal accident type. Here's what I teach my students from day one. When you're checking the controls, take ahold of the yoke and stick and stick your thumb straight up. Then when you move the yoke or stick, your thumb will be pointing at the aileron that is supposed to be up. If you do that religiously, every time you do a run up, you'll avoid ever taking off with the controls connected backwards. And this is a mistake that even test pilots make. In 2006, the sole prototype of the Spectrum 33, which was a $3.6 million business jet, crashed on takeoff, killing both pilots. Witnesses reported that the plane entered a right roll and immediately cartwheeled when the right wing hit the ground. According to the NTSB, the ailerons were linked in a manner that reversed the roll control, such that the left roll input from the stick would have deflected the ailerons to produce right roll of the airplane, and vice versa. Prior to the accident, the aircraft had undergone extensive maintenance, including removal of the main landing gear, which required disconnection of a portion of the linkage control systems. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I'll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.

In July 2017, Glynn Falcon had a crash while taking off in his Piper Arrow at the Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, CA. His plane was there for maintenance, and he was planning to fly it back to his home airport in Marina, CA. Immediately after rotation, he observed that the aircraft made an uncommanded roll to the left. Realizing he was unable to control the aircraft, he pulled the power, and the plane was destroyed in the crash. Glynn survived with minor injuries. In this episode, he describes the factors that led to the crash, and what he learned from his first flight instructor that helped him avoid what is often a fatal accident type. Here’s what I teach my students from day one. When you’re checking the controls, take ahold of the yoke and stick and stick your thumb straight up. Then when you move the yoke or stick, your thumb will be pointing at the aileron that is supposed to be up. If you do that religiously, every time you do a run up, you’ll avoid ever taking off with the controls connected backwards. And this is a mistake that even test pilots make. In 2006, the sole prototype of the Spectrum 33, which was a $3.6 million business jet, crashed on takeoff, killing both pilots. Witnesses reported that the plane entered a right roll and immediately cartwheeled when the right wing hit the ground. According to the NTSB, the ailerons were linked in a manner that reversed the roll control, such that the left roll input from the stick would have deflected the ailerons to produce right roll of the airplane, and vice versa. Prior to the accident, the aircraft had undergone extensive maintenance, including removal of the main landing gear, which required disconnection of a portion of the linkage control systems. Click here for the listener survey. Tell us what flight planning tools you use when planning a longer flight. Please visit my new Patreon page and make a contribution to help me with my goal of improving the AviationNewsTalk.com website. You can Dictate a listener question from your phone and I’ll try to answer it on a future show, or send an email.