I am reproducing here a section of an editorial written by Bob Meder, chairman of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI): “Last week in this space, I suggested Covid-19 safe practices in the flight instruction environment. I wrote that in the optimistic hope that it would be sufficient. It’s not. With the guidance of […]
Read moreNo One Can Explain Why Planes Stay in the Air
If you are a flight instructor or just the explainer in your family you may have struggled with illuminating your students, family, or passengers of why airplanes fly. You may have used one of the commonly used theories like the Bernoulli principle, which explains how low pressure is created above a cambered airfoil but fails […]
Read moreSecond DOTA meeting with Honolulu South Ramp Tenants – concerning the future of South Ramp utilization
DOTA invited stakeholder groups to a meeting on January 28, 2020, to discuss utilization of the south ramp of Honolulu airport and redevelopment and future assignment of space. The consultants contracted by the DOT presented a conceptual “preferred alternative” to the current utilization to accommodate the projected growth of general aviation (part 135 and part […]
Read moreT Routes coming to Hawaii
AOPA article
Read moreThe State of Hawaii has Class A airspace
As of 2019, all airspace above the Hawaii Islands, as with the rest of the United States, is covered by Class A airspace above 18,000 feet MSL. Here’s a diagram of the airspace changes, which took effect in 2019. You’ll also note that the Class E boundary of 5500 MSL present on previous Honolulu Sectional […]
Read moreCoast Guard Auxiliary Air Program in Hawaii
Interested in Aviation? Own a private airplane, or want to someday? Want to serve your country and your community, by augmenting the United States Coast Guard’s aviation program? If so, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Air Program in Hawaii, known as AUXAIR, could be a meaningful and challenging way to improve your skills, gain […]
Read moreRead the NOTAMs
Digging through pages of runway NOTAMs before each flight is arguably as exciting as reading the yellow pages. However, unless you have your personal dispatcher to brief you about pertinent facts and factoids you need to extract potentially relevant information. In Honolulu we always seem to deal with taxiway and occasional runway closures because of […]
Read moreChanges to Wheeler’s Class D airspace effective 26 April 2019
Effective the new VFR charts later this month, Wheeler is increasing the size of their Class D airspace. This was done to make it possible for IFR operations at HHI to remain in protected airspace. Note the unusual “lip” on the airspace to the southeast. This was designed to allow VFR aircraft holding in the […]
Read moreKona Wind Procedures at PHNL
Fall and spring seasons in Hawaii bring with them characteristic wind shifts, aka “Kona conditions” which not only test your ability to handle cross-winds but cause implementation of necessary departure and arrival procedures that we rarely practice. The use of runways 22 and 26 creates issues that stem principally from the proximity of mountains just […]
Read moreWrong Surface Landings Video from the FAA
Airport geometry, communication and expectation bias are among the most common wrong surface landing precursors: Parallel and offset parallel runway configurations such as HNL runways 4L & 4R contribute to more wrong surface landings than any other configuration Pilots incorrectly proceed to the runway they typically utilize or expect, vs. the one actually assigned by […]
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