Cleared for Takeoff’s Top 5 Posts of 2020
End the year unlike any other with a roundup of our most popular blog posts.
By: Maia Lee Sang
Thank you to all of our followers and readers of the FAA Blog, Cleared for Takeoff! We put together a list of five of our most popular blog posts of 2020.
1) No-Go On the Radio
“So, what does a long-gone reality show have to do with GA?” Inspired by the fashion-savvy reality show, What Not to Wear, FAA Safety Briefing magazine editor Susan K. Parson does an aviation-themed take with “What not to say.” The general aviation pilot and flight instructor highlights the dos and the don’ts in a list of what not to say during aviation radio transmission.
2) Save Story: Air Traffic Controllers at FAA Denver Center Help Locate Pilot after Crash
Air traffic control is all about making sure things go right in the skies, but these controllers are also essential when things happen to go wrong. When a Piper Lance II single-engine aircraft descended rapidly and disappeared from the radar coverage of Albuquerque Center in a remote, mountainous part of New Mexico, the pilot emerged safe but with limited knowledge of his location and limited signal. Thanks to the innovative thinking and quick action by a trio of supervisors at Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZDV), the stranded pilot was rescued with the help of smartphone apps.
3) Retiring Pilot Fuels Controller’s Memories of Her Grandfather
Coincidences are more satisfying when they bring a story full circle. When Ashleigh Goldberg was on position at Boston Center for a retiring pilot’s final flight, she had no idea she would be speaking to a man her grandfather hired 40 years earlier. Her choice to follow her grandfather’s passion for aviation would lead to a serendipitous encounter between a retiring pilot and the granddaughter of the man who hired him.
4) 9 Ways to Deter Birds at Airports
It may be surprising, but some features of the airport environment tend to attract animals that pose as a safety risk to airplanes on the runway and in the air. While even alligators have created problems on runways in Florida, birds are biggest threat to airplanes in the skies. Since the famous “Miracle on the Hudson” incident, researchers have come up with some resourceful, effective, and almost unbelievable ways to deter birds from airports for the coexistence between these winged animals and winged vehicles.
5) Charles E. Taylor: The Unsung Hero of Kitty Hawk Finally Gets His Day
“The man aviation history almost forgot,” Charles E. Taylor, played a significant role in the beginning of the aviation industry, yet is still not widely recognized for all that he has contributed. “Without Taylor’s engine, the [Wright] brothers and aviation would not have soared and moved forward as they did.” Read about this almost-forgotten key player that set off the beginning of aviation as we know it.
