Blake C. posted an article on
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Feb 2, 2012, 11:09 am
NavCanada is implementing quite a few changes in the next week or so that will affect both IFR and VFR pilots in Ontario and Quebec.
The largest change is the elimination of some Victor and Jet air-routes in favour for new RNAV routes (designated as T, Q, or L routes). The T and Q routes are contro... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Dec 26, 2011, 10:56 am
The weather in southern Ontario on Christmas eve was perfect for a flight. Destination: Midland Ontario (CYEE).
My pre-flight planning was showing a 30 min ETA. I used World Flight Planner of course. It was handy having all the NOTAMs in one place, especially when they contained runway surface cond... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Dec 1, 2011, 11:40 pm
Last weekend, Sara and I hopped into a plane and decided to head down to the Dunnville Airport (CDU9). We headed to the airport for a 7:30am departure packed with a snack.
This was the first time I flew the carborated 172 in almost a year. I prefer flying in the fuel injected ones, however none was... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Nov 14, 2011, 11:30 am
The ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital will be doing a Canada wide tour to show of the state of the art aicraft.
The converted DC-10 Aircraft has both surgical and teaching facilities and is used to help people around the world to fix various eye problems.
The viewing dates are available on their website. ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Nov 4, 2011, 4:00 pm
I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Toronto Area Control Centre on two occasions. It was a great experience and made me better understand what goes on on the “other side” of the radio.
I would like to extend an invitation to any air traffic controller or flight service specialist to accompa... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 19, 2011, 10:00 am
The Aviation Safety Letter (ASL) is a Transport Canada publication that is mailed to every pilot, controller, and aircraft mechanic in Canada (and I’m sure elsewhere).
Starting with issue 1/2012 they will be publishing the letter online only. You will no longer get a paper copy in the mail.
I pe... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 17, 2011, 10:00 pm
When you plan a flight, do you check the relevant NOTAMs? How do you know if they are important to you and your flight?
Did you know that if you cause a danger, incident, or accident because you didn’t check the NOTAMS you can be “charged” under CAR 602.71?
A NOTAM, or Notice To Airmen, is a... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 6, 2011, 10:55 pm
Being a pilot is great. You have the freedom to fly where ever you like. So once you’ve got a few $300 hamburgers (when was the last time it was $100?) under you belt, you’re looking for something new.
Here are a list of some things you can do after getting that licence.
Join an Organization... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Sep 26, 2011, 10:56 am
The federal government has evicted the Canadian Air & Space Museum from Downsview Park this past weekend.
The museum is over $100,000 in arrears.
The museum is asking for your help to reverse the eviction and keep the museum in operation. Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Sep 19, 2011, 2:38 pm
NavCanada will be changing the Control Zone class around CYTZ from class “D” to class “C”. This upgrade in the class means a few things for those of us in/around Toronto, Ontario:
Because the control zone extends over the entire downtown core, this will affect pilots who like to do city tou... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Aug 19, 2011, 11:59 am
Starting November 15, 2012, ICAO will support an updated ICAO Flight Plan.
The changes to the flight plan allow you to specify items like longer registrations, different types of equipment, and new rules for submitting and amending the plan.
Some highlights:
Flight plans are not to be submitted ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Aug 18, 2011, 2:41 pm
I’m currently looking for a new airport to fly out of. So this weekend I plan on checking out Brampton Airport (CNC3).
Buttonville (CYKZ) is the closest airport to where I live, and I’ve flown out of there for the past 4 years or so. A few issues have made me decide to explore other options:
R... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Jul 28, 2011, 1:32 pm
Now that the dust has settled on the announcement of the closure of Buttonville Airport. I decided to see what new news or plans surfaced for the lands.
Derek Sifton, the current owner/manager of YKZ has been quoted as saying:
The airport could close anytime in the next three to 10 years, Mr. Sift... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Jul 20, 2011, 11:17 am
I just want to give a shout-out to Matt, who just got his CPL yesterday. It’s been a long road buddy, but you finally made it!
Matt did his training up in Barrie, ON where he got his float rating as well. Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Jun 21, 2011, 3:53 pm
The Department of National Defence (DND) and Nav Canada are decommissioning approx 30 VORTACs and TACANs over the next two years. The ones being turned off in 2011 are:
Sydney 25 April 2011
Moncton 2 May 2011
Gander 6 June 2011
Stephenville 13 June 2011
Fredericton August 2011
Sioux Nar... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Jun 14, 2011, 11:52 am
The CBC has reported on a Goodyear blimp crash in Germany this past week. The item that caught my attention was the following fact:
The pilot yelled “We had an accident!” followed by “I crashed the airship!” as the smell of fire crept through the blimp, Storch told the DAPD news agency on M... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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May 27, 2011, 11:59 am
I think I finally found my perfect aviator watch! Almost 5 years ago I posted a “must have” list for my flying watch. I have yet to find one… until today.
The 4-bit Chrono watch by Cadence displays time in both UTC and local time on the same dial face. It’s a chronometer too, so great for t... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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May 20, 2011, 4:50 pm
I recently gave a nerdy talk to a bunch of database developers about World Flight Planner and PostgreSQL.
The talk went well and it was attended by a few folks from all over the world, including a few from Nav Canada and Environment Canada. If you’re interested in seeing the presentation, feel fr... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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May 11, 2011, 11:35 pm
The Firebird OVP
… it’s also cool because this baby can fly without a pilot too! It’s a new class of aircraft called Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OVP). It’s a UAV, with a pilot on board.
GizMag has more information about The Firebird Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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May 1, 2011, 11:47 pm
Air Canada (more accurately Sky Regional) started flying Q400s out of Toronto City Centre Airport to Montreal and Ottawa. 14 Daily flights in fact.
Naturally, this has increased pressure on Porters bottom line. It will be interesting to see how much damage Air Canada can do. They will be providing ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Apr 17, 2011, 3:48 pm
I took my parents up for a one hour flight on Friday. The GFA was showing moderate mechanical turbulence under 3000′. The city centre airport was showing winds gusting to 30kts.
I gave my parents the warning that it might be a little bumpy. The ride couldn’t have been any farther from the t... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Mar 21, 2011, 3:25 pm
It was great to be back in the air this past weekend. A cold front had passed through on Friday, bringing with it a high pressure system of nice dry air. This means some good flying weather!
Pre-Flight Inspection
It was bumpy below 3000′ so I decided to keep the entire flight up at around 40... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Feb 23, 2011, 2:51 pm
Went flying this morning. The first time in a while, so I did a checkout with one of my favourite instructors.It was a lot of fun, and I forgot how I love to fly.
The airport was busy as usual. Number 4 to land at one point, with an overshoot to boot. Everyone was departing off 15, and had the CTV ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Feb 15, 2011, 6:05 pm
I know a few people who use flight sims to keep their IFR skills sharp. I don’t have my IFR rating (yet) so I just use them to fly around.
I use Microsoft Flight Simulator. Which is now end of life. So what are the other options out there? I’ve been able to find two.
X-Plane is the flight simu... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Feb 12, 2011, 1:16 pm
Ramiel over at Pilots Discretion has a quick 5 min survey that he would like pilots to fill out.
It has to do with the usage of Common Frequency Areas in use around the Toronto Area. If you regularly fly around Toronto, I encourage you to fill out his survey. Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Feb 7, 2011, 9:03 pm
I’m sure the IFR pilots down under appreciate the sense of humour when doing the SINNK Five Arrival into Brisbane International Airport.
Take a look at the approach plate
Hopefully Glenn and Lissa don’t get wet!
Via @douglasr and @AAFO4Ever Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Jan 21, 2011, 3:29 pm
I’ve made two major improvements to the site over the past 24 hours.
Firstly, you are now able to get updates via e-mail (like with the old blog). You can manage your subscription on the right hand side of the page.
Secondly, the site is now mobile friendly. Feel free to read my posts on your ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Jan 15, 2011, 10:34 am
I remember one time, during my training with an instructor, that I was landing at an airport. The instructor told me to ignore the VASI indicators as it was calibrated for the larger airplanes. Flying in a C172, I found that remark odd as I was under the impression that all VASI or PAPI would accomm... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Jan 12, 2011, 10:17 pm
I’ve been looking at some TAFs from various locations and noticed a weird convention.
In the following TAF the validity period contains a time of 2400Z. For example:
EFHK 122336Z 1224/1324 05006KT 4000 -SN SCT002 BKN003 TEMPO 1300/1305 1500 SN BKN005 BECMG 1305/1307 BKN008 TEMPO 1307/1312 8000 S... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Jan 6, 2011, 11:14 pm
Tampa International Airport will be renumbering their runways next week. The reason being the change in the magnetic variation in the area.
The North/South runway will be renamed from 18R/36L to 19R/01L.
This doesn’t happen very often, as in most cases the variation only changes (at the most) 1-... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Dec 22, 2010, 11:43 am
I just got word from Nav Canada, that Mr. Claus has filed his ICAO flight plan with them for his departure later this week.
Normally they don’t release flight plans to the public, however they have decided to do so in this particular case. You can view a pdf version of the plan or read their news... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Dec 6, 2010, 11:39 pm
It’s been a busy month, and I really wish I could have blogged more.
I have been working on some exciting new features for World Flight Planner that should be released in the next few weeks or so.
I have also been working on my Personal Operating Procedures. I plan to have those done in the new ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Nov 2, 2010, 10:40 am
I was perusing the Transport Canada Instrument Procedures Manual today and noticed a rather interesting exercise:
It’s called the VOR Time Check and allows you to estimate the amount of time required to cross a VOR while flying a radial.
Here is how you perform it:
Let’s say you’re flying t... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 26, 2010, 9:41 pm
Well… looks like this is the final nail in the coffin for the Buttonville Airport.
Armadale Co. Limited and The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited have announced that they will be closing the airport and redeveloping the lands.
Looks like the Siftons will remain part of this re-development as... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 22, 2010, 12:32 pm
‘Tis a chilly one in the land of CYYZ this morning. According the expansion of mercury in a glass tube graduated with with the centigrade scale, it was 1°C this morning. Frost on the control surfaces for sure!
The latest Aviation Safety Letter was released yesterday. I took a quick read, and I f... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Oct 19, 2010, 8:22 pm
It’s time to vote for a new Mayor in the city of Toronto on October 25th. So the main question on my mind is: “Which one of them supports the Toronto Island Airport?”
A quick googling didn’t reveal anything, so it’s time to take a look at each candidates website to find out if they suppor... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 12, 2010, 11:36 pm
I’m doing some preliminary research into getting my IFR rating in Toronto. My rough plan is to see if I can start up in the spring, and get ‘er done before the end of the summer.
My biggest concern is about staying current. I dug up the CARs and section 401.05(3) spells it out for you:
(3) No ... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 11, 2010, 7:10 pm
Seneca College is performing a survey to gather real-world examples of flying scenarios. They are going to use the information gathered by this survey to come up with training and flight simulator scenarios.
The Hangar Talk 2010 Survey website goes on, saying:
The aviation industry has always used... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Oct 10, 2010, 1:15 pm
The National Museums of Scotland has put together a few 360° views of The Concorde, a Jaguar fighter bomber, an Avro Vulcan, and a De Havilland Comet.
The views are pretty high resolution and allow you full 360 degrees of freedom around the cockpit. It must have been amazing to fly in these old sc... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Oct 9, 2010, 2:00 pm
I’ve converted my blog from Movable Type to WordPress.
I’ve done extensive testing to ensure that all the links and images from the old site still work. Please let me know if you discover anything that’s not working properly.
One thing that I will stop doing, is sending updates via e-mail. S... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Oct 8, 2010, 9:38 am
Are you able to answer this students question? Why *can* airplanes fly upside down if this is how an airfoil works.
Or better yet: Why does the air above the airfoil have to meet up with the air below the airfoil? Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Oct 8, 2010, 9:38 am
Are you able to answer this students question? Why *can* airplanes fly upside down if this is how an airfoil works.
Or better yet: Why does the air above the airfoil have to meet up with the air below the airfoil? Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Oct 1, 2010, 6:01 am
It happens hundreds of times a day. Aircraft flying from North America To Europe. In all cases they must travel across the North Atlantic Ocean.
An agreement between Canada, USA, Iceland, Ireland, and the UK have resulted in standard routes that aircraft must follow to get from point A to point... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Oct 1, 2010, 6:01 am
It happens hundreds of times a day. Aircraft flying from North America To Europe. In all cases they must travel across the North Atlantic Ocean.
An agreement between Canada, USA, Iceland, Ireland, and the UK have resulted in standard routes that aircraft must follow to get from point A to point B.
... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Sep 9, 2010, 8:43 pm
I just got the latest copy of the CFS. This cycle there was an additional insert in the envelope!
It was an insert asking “industry stakeholders” for feedback on how Nav Canada communicates safety issues.
I’m not going to fill it out, because I’m not an industry stakeholder... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
Fly With Blake
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Sep 9, 2010, 8:43 pm
I just got the latest copy of the CFS. This cycle there was an additional insert in the envelope!
It was an insert asking "industry stakeholders" for feedback on how Nav Canada communicates safety issues.
I'm not going to fill it out, because I'm not an industry stakeholder, howeve... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Sep 2, 2010, 11:06 am
It's been a busy summer.
I haven't been flying in a while. The last time was in June. This is for multiple reasons:
- Been hard at work on worldflightplanner.com.
- Saving up my cash to buy my own airplane ($170/hr. renting is nice chunk towards a down payment).
I haven'... Comment - Like
Blake C. posted an article on
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Aug 19, 2010, 11:13 am
The guys at Jeppesen decided to put together the "Hudson Miracle" approach plate, as a thank you to Mr. Sullenburger.
Click for larger! Comment - Like
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