The Flight Nerd Weekly Briefing: November 10, 2026
01: COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER
This was the week aviation finally cleaned out its garage. On Halloween, Jeppesen printed its last paper chart. On Thursday, the FAA announced it's replacing ATC information displays that once ran on floppy disks. Yes, floppy disks, the save icon your younger students have never held. And on Friday, the FAA announced that two airports are now running their control towers through cameras instead of windows. Somewhere a retired controller just muttered "back in my day we had glass." Grab your coffee. The future arrived this week, and it brought paperwork.
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02: RADAR CONTACT
Two Airports Now Have Control Towers With No Windows
On November 6, the FAA announced that the first two digital towers under its newly approved program are up and running: Bartow Executive (KBOW) in Florida, which started in September, and Kenai Municipal (PAEN) in Alaska. Instead of a cab full of windows, controllers work from high-definition cameras, sensors, and displays that give them a continuous 360-degree view of the airport. Options include infrared cameras, aircraft ID tags, and microphones that pipe in the sounds of the airfield. The system is Frequentis's smartVISION, which got the FAA's first digital tower design approval in September. Five more airports are next: Winter Haven and Venice in Florida, Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland, Johnston Regional in North Carolina, and Durango-La Plata County in Colorado. Congress set aside $50 million for the rollout.
The so-what: from the cockpit, nothing changes. You call the tower, you get your clearance, you read it back. What changes is the economics. A traditional tower is an expensive building, and a lot of smaller Class D fields will never get one. Cameras could bring towered service to airports that would never have had it, or keep it at fields where the old tower is falling apart. It's also not the FAA's first try: Leesburg, Virginia ran a camera tower starting in 2018, until the vendor pulled out of the approval process and the FAA ended it in 2023. Keep an eye on whether this rollout goes better. If your home field is on that list of five, your next checkride might be in front of a camera tower. (AVweb)
Jeppesen Printed Its Last Paper Chart on Halloween
Jeppesen stopped printing paper charts on October 31, and every remaining paper subscription ended November 1. The company now operates as Jeppesen ForeFlight after Boeing sold it, ForeFlight, and other digital businesses to Thoma Bravo for $10.55 billion about a year ago. The reasons it gave: the rising cost of managing paper, and the fact that "the majority of flights around the world utilize Jeppesen digital charts." Subscribers get credit for unused time. If you still want paper in your hand, ForeFlight Mobile can print individual approach plates and airport diagrams, and the FAA's own charts are still available through its approved print providers.
The so-what: for most GA pilots, this is the end of an era more than a crisis. FAA sectionals, terminal procedures, and Chart Supplements aren't going anywhere. But it does make one thing official: the tablet in your lap is now the primary navigation library for almost everyone, airlines included. That makes your backup plan for a dead iPad a real part of preflight planning, not an afterthought. That's this week's Briefing Room. (AVweb)
Flying a Tecnam Twin? The FAA Wants Those Engine Mounts Checked Fast
On November 5, the FAA proposed an airworthiness directive for the Tecnam P2006T, the four-seat light twin that a lot of flight schools use for multiengine training. The FAA received a report of structural damage tied to defective engine shock mounts, and it warns that, left unaddressed, "the engine disconnecting from the airplane structure" and loss of control could follow. The proposal targets shock mounts from batches 49-24 and 11-25. They'd have to be replaced within 25 hours of operation or 30 days after the AD takes effect, whichever comes first, along with an inspection of the engine mount structure. The FAA estimates 131 U.S.-registered airplanes are affected. Its cost estimates run $127.50 per engine for the inspection, about $690 per engine for new shock mounts, and $3,660 more per engine if the mount itself is damaged. Some of that may be covered by warranty. Comments are due December 21. EASA issued a similar directive back in March.
The so-what: compare this with the Elixir AD we covered on October 20. That was an emergency AD, which grounded the fleet immediately. This one is a proposed AD: the FAA publishes it, takes comments, and then issues a final rule. That's the normal path, and the sense of urgency here is in the compliance window, not in grounding anyone today. If you're about to start a multiengine rating in a P2006T, ask your school whether its airplanes have the affected mounts. A short maintenance outage now beats a canceled checkride later. (AVweb)
03: BRIEFING ROOM
Your iPad Just Died. Now What?
You're 40 minutes into a VFR cross-country in July, and your tablet goes dark with a message that says it needs to cool down. Or the battery you swore was at 80% hits zero. Or the mount lets go and the tablet slides somewhere under the right rudder pedal. Any of these takes about one second, and every one of them has happened to someone at your airport.
Here's the part students don't expect: no regulation requires a Part 91 pilot to carry paper charts. 91.103 requires you to "become familiar with all available information concerning that flight," and the FAA's guidance (AC 91-78) accepts an EFB in place of paper. Legal is the easy part. The question an examiner will ask is: what's your plan when it fails?
A good answer has layers:
- A second device with the same app and the same charts downloaded, not streaming. Your phone counts.
- Power and heat management. Keep the tablet charging, out of direct sun, and set to dim the screen. Tablets overheat on the glareshield faster than you'd think.
- A paper or memory backup for the essentials. Know your route, your fuel stops, and the frequencies you'll need. A folded sectional or a printed nav log weighs almost nothing.
- The panel itself. A VOR, a GPS in the panel, or even pilotage with a compass and a watch still works when the screen doesn't.
DPEs love to turn the tablet off in the middle of the cross-country portion just to see what you do. "I'd fly the airplane, then grab the backup" is the start of a great answer.
Want navigation, flight planning, and ADM to come together the same way? The Private Pilot Ground School course covers it all the way examiners test it: flightnerdairforce.com/private-pilot-ground-school-lifetime-access
04: FLY-IN RADAR
One is this weekend, with a correction, and one is a holiday fly-in that's worth the trip.
Stuart Air Show | November 13-15, 2026 | Witham Field (KSUA), Stuart, FL
Correction first. In our October 13 issue, we said Stuart tickets were $5 and that there's no flying on Friday. Both were wrong for 2026, and we're sorry. Adult general admission is $40, youth (ages 4-12) and seniors (55+) are $15, and kids 3 and under get in free with a ticketed adult. And Friday is a whole show of its own: a twilight air show that rolls into night performances and finishes with fireworks and a drone light show.
The show's performer page currently lists the Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team, a C-17 Globemaster III, and a KC-135 Stratotanker on the military side. Civilian acts include the Titan Aerobatic Team's three AT-6 Texans, the NextGen Eagles, Red Bull Air Force pilots Kevin Coleman (Extra) and Aaron Fitzgerald (BO-105 helicopter), Kyle Fowler's Long-EZ, Nathan Hammond's Ghostwriter, RJ Gritter's Decathlon, the F4U-4 Corsair "Korean War Hero," and parachutists jumping from the C-47 Tico Belle. An A-10C is listed on static display. The show says all performers are subject to change.
Insider tips (it's this weekend, so these are tactical):
- Veterans, go Sunday. Sunday is Veterans Appreciation Day: active military, veterans, first responders, and up to three immediate family members get in free with ID. On Friday and Saturday they pay $15.
- Bring your own chair. General admission doesn't include seating, so pack folding chairs. Upgrades start at $35 for reserved seating, and the Flightline Club ($105, Sat-Sun) gets you shade, a meal, and air-conditioned restrooms.
- Pick your parking. General parking is included with your ticket. On Saturday and Sunday, $40 Premium Parking gets you a spot near a dedicated gate, a way around the main admission line, and priority exit. With a military jet demo on the bill, that last part might be worth it.
- Leave the dog home. No pets are allowed (ADA service dogs are fine). It's rain or shine, and there are no weather refunds.
- Flying anywhere near the Treasure Coast? A three-day show with a night portion means TFRs at unusual hours. Check NOTAMs for KSUA every day you fly that weekend, including Friday evening.
(Tickets via stuartairshow.com | stuartairshow.com)
Santa Fly-In | December 12, 2026 | Reno-Stead Airport (KRTS), Reno, NV
Reno-Stead spent decades as the home of the Reno Air Races, but on December 12 the fastest thing on the field will be a guy in a red suit. EAA Chapter 1361 is gearing up for its 2026 Santa Fly-In and is recruiting volunteers now. The chapter hasn't posted this year's schedule yet, but here's how the airport's 2024 "Operation Santa" went: kids lined up in the Stead terminal to meet Santa, who arrived in a Navy N3N biplane around 11:30 a.m. There was a holiday craft area, a book-reading corner, and the North Valleys Library bookmobile, and the chapter handed out aviation goodies to kids and pamphlets to parents. The 2024 event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Insider tips:
- Confirm before you go. 2026 times and details aren't posted yet. Check the chapter's website or call EAA 1361 at (775) 393-9403 in early December.
- Volunteer and get the best view in the house. The chapter is filling shifts for Friday setup (Dec 11) and the event day. It's the easiest way to meet the local pilot community, and volunteers see Santa land up close.
- Flying in? Respect the elevation and the season. Stead sits at about 5,000 feet, on the high desert north of Reno with the Sierra Nevada just to the west. December means short days, cold mornings, and the chance of strong winds and mountain wave coming off the mountains. Check winds aloft and plan to leave well before sunset.
05: PATTERN WORK
Four questions, all from the FAA's own playbook: one warm-up, two middles, and one that catches a lot of tablet-loving pilots off guard. The answer key is at the bottom. Screens down, eyes up.
1. (Warm-up) How often are VFR sectional charts revised?
A) Every 28 days
B) Every 56 days
C) Every 6 months
2. When the control tower at a part-time Class D airport closes for the night, the airspace typically becomes:
A) Class C
B) Class E or Class G, as listed in the Chart Supplement
C) It stays Class D, but the tower frequency becomes the CTAF
3. On the airspeed indicator of a light twin-engine airplane, the blue radial line marks:
A) Minimum controllable airspeed with the critical engine inoperative (Vmc)
B) Best single-engine rate of climb (Vyse)
C) Best single-engine angle of climb (Vxse)
4. (The hard one) Under 14 CFR 91.103, which of the following is NOT specifically required before a VFR cross-country flight?
A) Considering any known traffic delays you've been advised of by ATC
B) Knowing the runway lengths at airports of intended use
C) Carrying current paper aeronautical charts on board
Tally your answers. The key (and a scoring guide) is at the bottom of the issue.
06: SQUAWK BOX
Here's one for the dinner table, as Jeppesen's paper era ends: it all started with a 10-cent notebook. In 1930, Elrey Jeppesen was flying the mail for Boeing Air Transport on routes over the Rockies, where there were few charts worth the name. So he started writing his own. He climbed hills, silos, and water towers to measure their heights, sketched airfield layouts, and wrote down the phone numbers of farmers along the route who could tell him what the weather was doing. Other pilots wanted copies of his "Little Black Book," so he started selling them for $10 each. In 1934 that became Jeppesen & Co. The original notebook is now at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Every approach plate you've ever flown goes back to one pilot who didn't trust the map.
And the observation: every pilot with a tablet has seen the "iPad needs to cool down" warning. And it shows up at exactly the moment ATC hands you a reroute, a new frequency, and a squawk code in one breath. The tablet always picks the busiest 30 seconds of the flight.
That's the stack for this week. Between camera towers, the last paper chart, and a light twin that needs new engine mounts, aviation spent the week updating its gear. Make sure your backup is current too, whether that's a phone, a printed nav log, or just knowing your route cold. See you next Tuesday.
Ben
The Flight Nerd Weekly Briefing: downloaded, charged, and backed up on paper anyway.
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07: PATTERN WORK ANSWER KEY
Scoring guide:
- 4/4: Fully charted and current. Jeppesen would have hired you in 1934.
- 3/4: Solid. If the twin question got you, the blue line trips up plenty of new multi students too.
- 2/4: Your sectional's a cycle out of date. Grab the new one and try again.
- 0-1/4: Screen went dark. Good news: you're about to have a backup plan.
1. Answer: B (Every 56 days). The FAA moved VFR sectional and terminal area charts to a 56-day revision cycle, matching the Chart Supplement and other products. A chart is current only until its expiration, and "it hasn't changed in years" is not a real check. Frequencies, obstacles, and airspace really do change between editions. If you're flying from an EFB, the app tracks this for you, but only if you actually download the update.
2. Answer: B (Class E or Class G, as listed in the Chart Supplement). When a part-time tower closes, the Class D airspace usually becomes Class E (often surface-area Class E if weather reporting is available) or Class G, and the Chart Supplement tells you which. The tower frequency typically becomes the CTAF, but the airspace class changes, which is why choice C is wrong. That changes your VFR weather minimums and cloud clearances. Pull the Chart Supplement entry for any part-time tower you plan to use after dark.
3. Answer: B (Best single-engine rate of climb, Vyse). In a light twin, the blue radial line marks Vyse, the speed that gives the best climb rate (or the smallest sink rate) with one engine out. The red radial line marks Vmc, the minimum speed at which you can keep directional control with the critical engine inoperative. Vxse isn't marked on the airspeed indicator at all. Multi students memorize this as "blue line": if an engine quits, get to blue line and fly it.
4. Answer: C (Carrying current paper aeronautical charts on board). 91.103 requires you to become familiar with all available information about the flight. For flights not in the vicinity of an airport, it specifically lists weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives if the flight can't be completed, and known ATC traffic delays. For every flight, it requires runway lengths at airports of intended use and takeoff and landing distance data. It says nothing about paper charts. No Part 91 regulation requires them, and the FAA's EFB guidance (AC 91-78) accepts electronic charts in their place. The trap is choice B. Plenty of pilots think runway lengths only matter for unfamiliar fields, but 91.103 requires them for every flight.
If you'd like preflight action and the rest of the regulations sorted out for good before test day, the Private Pilot Ground School course covers the full written exam syllabus: flightnerdairforce.com/private-pilot-ground-school-lifetime-access
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