AvBuyer Magazine – August 2019

78
Vol 23 Issue 8 2019
AVBUYERMAGAZINE http://www.AVBUYER.com

OWNERSHIP A

Just because you’re a regular traveler

to certain airports doesn’t mean you’re

using the best ones available to you. Dave

Higdon provides pointers as to why

yesterday’s ideal choice may no longer

be the best fit for your mission need...

ld habits die hard. In fact, some habits

become more deeply embedded thanks

to the convenience of the electronic

devices we use. Take, for example, the

mobile phone. Today, we tend to rely on our

phones to bring up a number, rather than commit

that number to memory as we once may have

done.

It’s the same in aviation. Pilots using digital flight

planning programs – whether on a smartphone,

tablet or desktop – often enter the designators for

airports frequently used when travelling to a city or

region.

While electronics do help reduce the time and

effort of planning a flight, there remains a danger

that after a while pilots don’t revisit the parameters

often enough that were once factored into a choice

of airport at a regular business destination.

Meanwhile, things change. Sometimes they

change to a point that an airport that once

presented itself as the best option is no longer the

most convenient or cost-effective. It’s good

practice for flight operations to consider the

possible variables for the next flight-planning

exercise and reassess whether the airports currently

used are still the best choices.

Airport Runways & Landing Systems

Airports change – sometimes dramatically. When

was the last time you reassessed all the options

available at your regular destinations to see which

airport facilities have upgraded their runways and

landing systems?

An airport too small a few years ago may have

increased its runway length to become a viable

option. Conversely, runway lengths also shrink (i.e.

Santa Monica) rendering them no longer viable.

And on occasion an airport might find a way to

install an Instrument Landing System (ILS) giving it

options in inclement weather that were previously

lacking. Today the more likely scenario is that an

airport gets one or more new instrument

procedures using space-based navigation systems

(WAAS GPS approaches).

O

w A

Are you

Using the

Best Airports

you Can?

Dave Higdon is a highly respected aviation

journalist who has covered all aspects of

civil aviation over the past 36 years. Based in

Wichita, he has several thousand flight hours,

and has piloted pretty much everything

from foot-launched wings to combat jets.

Contact him via [email protected]

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