Matthew Johnston 
Knowing how the Federal Aviation Administration divides airspace is key to developing awareness and safe operation as a pilot. From the planning phase of a flight to requesting a landing clearance, paying attention to these divisions help ensure positive interactions with controllers and other pilots. The classification of airspace is not always static. It might …
Most people take it for granted that pilots must communicate over the radio with ATC (air traffic control). After all, how else can airplanes know what to do and when to do it? The fact is, for private pilots, there are lots of situations where no communication with ATC is required or even possible. (For …
A passenger in a small airplane cockpit’s front seat is in an entirely different environment than that of a passenger seated elsewhere in an airplane. Not only does the passenger have the privilege of seeing out the front of the airplane and experiencing all the wonderful interactions with weather, radio communication with air traffic control …
In aviation, the concept of “speed” isn’t just “how fast an aircraft is going.” It can refer to a number of operating conditions in relation to the aircraft. To fully understand the capacities, safe performance operation, and limitations of any aircraft, it’s important to have a good grasp of “velocity speeds”, known as V-speeds. For …
To a non-pilot’s eye, on cold days and hot days, an airplane taking off, flying overhead, or landing looks pretty much the same. Sure, if it’s icy or raining very hard, there is a chance that the airplane could slip or hydroplane, but other than that, there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference. …
Skip to content