Matt Tyler's Bits

Why did Dr. Das have trouble establishing on the localizer for 28R? He followed his vector to the localizer but started to veer right of the signal when he neared the field. The localizer signal would have been  Some panels are equiped with a "reverse" switch between the radio navigator and the VOR or HSI instrument. The reverse switch transforms the signal from the VHF navigation receiver so that indicator needles appear as they would in a forward approach and the pilot wouldn't have to translate (or reverse interpret) the needle. So, if equiped with a reverse switch and the switch was inadvertently in the reverse position, veering right on the localizer would look like the correct action for the pilot to make. He also may have been thinking more about circling around to runway 23 and that's why he veered right early. Though he was reminded plenty of times of what he approach was. The controller reported Dr. Das was veering right of the track. The pilot acknowledge i...

I took for granted that non-pilots had an understanding of the weather conditions on October 11, 2021. They were this: Surface winds out of the South, 10 to 20 knots; broken and overcast ceilings ranging from 1,700 to 3,000 feet above ground level; cloud tops from 3,000 to 5,000 feet. Anyone flying cross country would most likely be passing through cloud layers and therefor require instrument approaches to land. Critical phases of flight would be spent in the clouds, meaning the pilot has no visiblity outside the aircraft and has to rely on his instruments to manage course, speed, altitude, and attitude. All these measurements are critical to the safe traversal while flying under Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). A man behind me at the local grocery store checkout line hears me respond to the cashier's inquery as to why I'm buying a couple of boquets of flowers. My response was, "One was for my wife and one was for the vigil tonight at 7 PM." He chimed in an...

Something happened today that me disturbed. I didn't notice this "thing" that has been occurring over the past two months, but had I, I'd have spoken out sooner. Today, Blue Origin sent another group of tourists into space for a short time. The headliner was William Shatner, a cultural icon. I'm happy for him and the rest of the group for being able to have the experience. This isn't the thing that's bothering me. On their descent back to earth, the mission control commander dubbed them America's newest astronauts, designating them an incremental astronaut number somewhere in the 500's. Astronauts? If what they did, which was to sit in a seat, qualifies them as astronauts, then everyone flying as passengers on an airliner should be anointed "pilots". Correct me if I'm wrong, but astronauts spend decades learning and practicing science, engineering, or aeronautics before applying to and being accepted into one of the most rigorous prog...