Aviation Around Us
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Reflections on the Rules of the 2025 Haidian District Student Simulated Flight Competition: Key Points for Mastering Cessna 172 Operations to Competition Level
I happened to see the “Notice on Holding the 2025 Haidian District Primary and Secondary School Student Simulation Flying Competition.” As a flight simulation player, I immediately checked out Attachment 2: 2025 Haidian District Primary and Secondary School Student Simulation Flying Competition Rules.pdf. My first impression was: This isn’t a “children’s game”; it’s clearly a training syllabus prepared for “little student pilots.”
So, I had ChatGPT study these rules and write a blog post to share with fellow players. My requirements for ChatGPT were: Focus on the Cessna C172 operational requirements in the rules; break down the scoring points item by item; provide feasible training methods in X-Plane; and briefly discuss the broader trends and thoughts inspired by such competitions.
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Visit the Royal Air Force Museum London
The Royal Air Force Museum London, located in the Hendon area in the north of London, is a renowned museum showcasing the history of the Royal Air Force and the development of aviation. There are 6 main exhibition halls, each displaying exhibits with different themes, comprehensively covering the history, technology, and achievements of the Royal Air Force.
Hall 1: RAF Stories - The First 100 Years
Theme: The Centenary History of the Royal Air Force • The development journey from the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to the Royal Air Force (RAF). • Focuses on key missions and turning points during WWI, WWII, and the post-Cold War era. • Exhibits include uniforms, medals, historical documents, and multimedia materials.
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Visiting Brooklands Museum
Brooklands Museum is located in Surrey, approximately 30 kilometers southwest of London. It showcases many classic aircraft, including the Concorde (visitors can enter the cabin). This site features the remains of the world’s first dedicated motor racing circuit and is also one of the birthplaces of British aviation and automotive engineering.
I made a special trip this time to see the Concorde here. Take the train from London Waterloo station to Weybridge, then a taxi ride of about 10 minutes will get you to Brooklands Museum.
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China NavData Updated to 2025 Nr.01
China Charts updated to 2025 Nr.01 (2501221600). Welcome to use.
Thanks to a reminder from a netizen, I realized that eaipchina is open to the public for free, and the format has been updated quite a bit. I spent the weekend updating the PDFs from the website.
Part 1 General (GEN) <a href=/x-plane10/view.php?file=doc/GEN.pdf> GEN 0.1 Preface GEN 0.2 AIP Amendment Record GEN 0.3 AIP Supplements and AIC Records GEN 0.4 AIP Checklist GEN 0.5 AIP Manual Amendment Record GEN 0.6 Part 1 Contents GEN 1.1 Responsible Authorities GEN 1.2 Entry, Transit and Departure of Aircraft GEN 1.3 Entry, Transit and Departure of Passengers and Crew GEN 1.4 Entry, Transit and Departure of Cargo GEN 1.5 Aircraft Instruments, Equipment and Flight Documents GEN 1.6 Summary of National Regulations and International Agreements/Conventions GEN 1.7 Differences from ICAO Standards, Recommended Practices and Procedures GEN 2.1 Measurement Systems, Aircraft Markings and Public Holidays GEN 2.2 Abbreviations Used in AIP Products GEN 2.3 Chart Symbols GEN 2.4 Place Name Codes GEN 2.5 Table of Radio Navigation Facilities GEN 2.6 Table of Conversion of Measurement Units GEN 2.7 Sunrise/Sunset Tables GEN 3.1 AIS Services GEN 3.2 Charts GEN 3.3 Air Traffic Services GEN 3.4 Communication Services GEN 3.5 Meteorological Services GEN 3.6 Search and Rescue GEN 4.1 Aerodrome/Heliport Charges GEN 4.2 Air Navigation Services Charges
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A Glimpse of Aomori Airport
Spring Cherry Blossom Season: Traveling to Hirosaki for Hanami, flying from Haneda to Aomori Airport. Due to limited time, I made a brief stop of just over ten minutes at the Aomori Airport observation deck to take some commemorative photos.
Several famous landmarks are visible on the right side before landing: Lake Towada
Mt. Hakkoda
And the Aomori city area.
The central long white building is the Aomori Central Wholesale Market,
The circular building slightly above is the Aomori Prefectural Skating Rink,
And the triangular building by the distant seaside is the Aomori Prefectural Tourism and Product Center. -
A Glimpse of Hakodate Airport
Due to the pandemic, I haven’t been able to travel for a long time, let alone have the opportunity to photograph airports in various places. Fortunately, having recently completed three doses of the vaccine, and with the local government lifting various travel restrictions after mid-April, I can finally get out and about. Today, I’ll start with a glimpse of Hakodate Airport. Also, the airport charts are here.
Following the usual routine, I started by checking out the environment from the observation deck on the 3rd floor of the terminal.
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NOTAMs and ATC Air Traffic Control in Non-Peacetime
I just finished watching the Olympics, the Americans are withdrawing from Afghanistan as planned, and the Taliban has taken over the capital, Kabul, basically peacefully and without a fight these past few days. However, the power vacuum will not be filled anytime soon, as can be seen from the NOTAMs at Kabul airport and the Flight Information Region.
Following the instructions on how to check NOTAMs previously introduced on this site, Enter OAKB and OAKX
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Watching Planes at the Airport on the Day of the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony
July 23, 2021, was the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics and also a holiday. It had been a long time since I last visited the airport for some leisure. Knowing that it would be difficult to take clear photos in the scorching heat, the opportunity was too rare to pass up, so I decided to come to Haneda Airport Terminal 3 to record this special day.
Due to the pandemic, most flights are still dormant.
Coming to the rooftop observation deck on the 5th floor, you can see the volunteer staff waiting to welcome the athletes gazing at the arriving aircraft.
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Precious Flight Video from 26 Years Ago
It is somewhat miraculous to have found a flight video taken 26 years ago. The time was the afternoon of May 1, 1995, taking a China Eastern Airlines flight from Jinan to Beijing. Departure time was 15:38, landing time was 16:18. The aircraft type was an MD-82, with registration number B-2123. This airframe was assembled and produced in Shanghai by the Shanghai Aviation Industrial Corporation and the American McDonnell Douglas company, rolling out in 1989.
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Haneda Airport After a Long Time
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I hadn’t been to the airport for photography for over six months. On June 19, the Japanese government lifted various travel restrictions, and the number of infections was kept to a few dozen, so I could finally visit Haneda Airport to see how things were.
I first arrived at Terminal 2. As expected, there were very few people in the airport, and it was empty everywhere.
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Haneda New Approach Route
Three years ago, I introduced future changes to the Arrival and Departure Runways at Haneda Airport, which means that during southerly winds, aircraft will execute an ILS final approach over the center of Tokyo, a significant change from the current approach from the sea.
After several years of preparation, the new routes will be officially implemented starting this March, and test flights have already begun. (By the way, starting March 14, Haneda International Terminal will be renamed to Haneda Terminal 3.)
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Max Planes-Viewing Aircraft via ADS-B on MacOS
I introduced Mac OS X ADS-B decoding software 5 years ago, At that time, there wasn’t any particularly good software on Mac, so I didn’t continue using it. Today, I discovered a pretty decent piece of software called Max Planes. After testing it, I felt it works quite well, So here is an introduction.
Watch planes on macOS, save recordings, watch replays and share them with friends. All without the internet. Use a USB RTL-SDR or "DTB Tuner" to see nearby planes.
Installation instructions are as follows 1 Download Max Planes from the App Store
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Idea for Building an Airport Observation Deck
Seeing the news from The Beijing News, CAAC: Plans to learn from foreign experience and build a batch of sightseeing facilities at major hub airports,
At present, the CAAC is proceeding to learn from the successful experience of airport observation platforms in developed countries abroad, striving to take the lead in planning, designing, and building a batch of sightseeing facilities in major hub airports nationwide. On one hand, it can reasonably satisfy the demands of the vast number of tourists, allowing them to visit various major hub airports with ease and pleasure; on the other hand, it must also ensure the safe and efficient travel of passengers, giving consideration to both and letting each have its place.
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Boeing 737-500 Operating Manual and ANA Super Dolphin Livery Retirement
This site shares a special connection with the Boeing 737-500. Years ago, I wrote a long-form series titled “Airline Pilot Secrets — How Pilots Fly Civil Airliners,” which was compiled using the Boeing 737-500 flight manual as a reference.
Nowadays, the Boeing 737 NG series has largely replaced the 737 Classic series (737-300, 737-400, 737-500). Looking at the 737-500 cockpit today evokes a sense of antiquity. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to spot them at airports. For instance, All Nippon Airways (ANA) introduced the type in July 1995 (with a single economy class layout of 126 seats) and applied the “Super Dolphin” special livery. At its peak, the fleet consisted of 25 airframes, but now only 4 remain.
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The Scenery After Takeoff from Haneda Runway 34R
A few years ago, in the post ANA Tokyo Haneda-Beijing NH961 Flight Report (Part 1), I introduced the scenery after takeoff from Runway 34R. At that time, I was seated on the left side; this time, I will supplement it with the view from the right window. Of course, in terms of scenery, the left side offers views of downtown Tokyo and Disney, making it much better than the right side.
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Upgrade Gqrx to 2.11.5
Previously, I introduced using a digital TV stick and Gqrx on Mac to listen to Software Defined Radio (SDR) – listening to the aviation band for just a few dozen yuan. Recently, I had some free time and saw the latest version of Gqrx 2.11.5, so I installed it on a MacBook Pro to test it out.
I mentioned back then that the digital TV stick is best plugged directly into the computer’s USB port. At first, I plugged it into a USB Hub, and the device wasn’t recognized. However, since the MacBook Pro only has USB-C ports, I tried connecting via a Hub, and this time there were no issues.
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Before and After Landing at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Runway 36R
A business trip to the US, landing at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As always, sitting by the window, taking some photos for the record.
Checked the flight route on the Real Flight Plan Database website mentioned before. The route is:
ADK DCT 5100N/17000W DCT 5200N/16000W DCT 5300N/15000W DCT 5200N/14000W DCT NUDGE DCT PETPA DCT ITGAV DCT TOU DCT JAWBN DCT SEA DCT MLD DCT DBL DCT TBE DCT BGD UKW9/1312
So I plotted it on SkyVector.
The actual route matches the flight plan almost perfectly.
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Scenery Before and After Landing at Runway 22 at Haneda Airport
Back from a business trip, landing at Runway 22 at Haneda Airport, sitting on the right side window, I took a few commemorative photos with my RX100 to share with you.
Actually, this flight should have been an LDA X RWY22 Approach, but for ease of terrain reference, I am using the LDA Y RWY22 approach chart for reference.
Near the outside of the Intermediate Fix IF BALAN
This waterfront area is the Kaihin Makuhari district.
The Chiba Red Bull Air Race World Championship introduced a few years ago was held here.
The circular building on the left of the photo is Chiba Marine Stadium. -
China NavData Updated to 201901
I’ve updated the China Air Charts. The main contents are as follows:
- Updated to version 201901
- Merged over 20 files from “PART 1 GENERAL (GEN)” into 5 files for easier searching and downloading
- Updated the airport information section below to the latest version. The previous one was from 2015; I kept forgetting to update, sorry about that.
AD 0.6 TABLE OF CONTENTS TO PART 3 AD 1. AERODROMES－INTRODUCTION AD 1.1 AERODROME AVAILABILITY AD 1.2 RESCUE AND FIRE FIGHTING SERVICES AND SNOW PLAN AD 1.3 INDEX TO AERODROMES
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Mr. Tonkatsu298's 2018 World Aerobatic Team Rankings
The renowned Japanese aviation photographer Tonkatsu298 has traveled the world, capturing countless airshow videos. At the 2018 Zhuhai Airshow, his footage of the J-20 was widely shared by Chinese netizens after being featured by Sina. [Official Photographer! Japanese Aviation Photographer Captures Chinese J-20 Opening Weapon Bay]
November 11, 2018, marked the 69th birthday of the Chinese Air Force and the final display of the 12th Zhuhai Airshow. A four-aircraft formation of Chinese Air Force J-20s opened their weapon bays to display beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and close-combat air-to-air missiles, demonstrating powerful combat capabilities. The complex aerobatic maneuvers further ignited the atmosphere. The Japanese aviation photographer Tonkatsu298, who was present, captured this performance and uploaded it to an overseas video website, sparking heated discussion among netizens globally.
I met him during the July Tattoo meeting and saw him again in Zhuhai two weeks ago.Recently, based on his impressions from the airshow, Mr. Tonkatsu298 has created a ranking of aerobatic display teams from around the world. With his permission, I am introducing it here.