Aviation
Send us your questions
- What do you mean by "Fly Neighborly" or "Friendly Flying"?
- What is this "general aviation" I'm hearing about?
- Don't Air Traffic Controllers tell pilots where to fly?
- What do you mean by "Fly Neighborly" or "Friendly Flying"?
- •We use the terms interchangeably to indicate a conceptual thought process to be applied by pilots during their planning and flying. Pilots have a large amount of responsibility and trust placed in them to conduct safe flights, which is any pilot's first priority. Before each flight, pilots must familiarize themselves with a lot of information regarding their flights, and update it and their associated decisions throughout the flying day. Friendly flying involves planning and flying, workload permitting, with consideration of the effects of aircraft sound waves at ground level.
- •"Fly Neighborly" is a term that was coined by operators and industry in the early 1980s and has been applied to training programs and operational techniques by all manner of operators around the world. Manufacturers join the effort by conducting research and development of quieter aircraft and sound reduction flight techniques.
- •ERHC was awarded the first ever Fly Neighborly Award in 1982 for its efforts at community-focused solutions to citizen concerns.
- What is this "general aviation" I'm hearing about?
- •In the more than 100 years of its history, powered flight has developed in the U.S. into such broad categories as airlines, military, and general aviation (GA). Chances are, you have had experience with the airlines, and have a notion of what military aviation is about. The rest of aviation, from small planes and helicopters flown for fun and personal transportation, to jets and more, are in the general aviation category. This piece of aviation is quite large and not well understood by the general media or public. You can learn more about this sector at GA at GA Serving America, a web site of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the largest US pilot group, which counts about two thirds of America's approximately 600,000 pilots as members.
- •GA is the average American's portal to the freedom of the skies and benefits of aviation. For your regional travel, it may well be time and cost effective for you to earn your pilot certificate and rent or own your own aircraft instead of using the airlines or driving. There may well be a small airfield closer to your home and frequent destinations than you realize. Even just going out flying and enjoying the view from the air, maneuvering, exploring new places, is a joy of aviation that is there waiting for you to experience.
- Don't Air Traffic Controllers tell pilots where to fly?
- •Actually, most of the airspace over the U.S. is the type that allows pilots the freedom to choose the route and altitude that best serves their transportation needs. It's the best way for humankind to derive the maximum usefulness from aviation.
- •Many aircraft are equipped to fly by instruments and automated systems, and many pilots train for and earn the additional qualification that allows instrument flight, so they can continue even when the weather or darkness makes it difficult to see. When on an instrument flight, the pilot files a flight plan requesting a specific route, and it is up to ATC to assign a route and keep the aircraft under their control physically separated for safety. Airline flights are always under this kind of flight plan; GA flights have more discretion.