Air travel and transport are so interwoven in our everyday existence that it’s difficult to imagine life without it. But at one time, aviation was considered an impossibility, then a dangerous stunt, then a luxury. It’s since transformed the human experience and connected the planet in ways not thought possible. The history of man and …
READ MORE The Biggest Breakthroughs in Aviation History, Part I
Since aircraft operate in a three-dimensional environment, sailing in the ocean of air called the atmosphere, it is critical for pilots to understand how the weather affects flying through that ocean. From the very beginning of training, pilots learn how to read meteorological reports, interpret weather depiction charts, and analyze forecast discussions to create a …
Being a Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) is a tremendous responsibility. Before becoming a CFI, one must ask oneself if he or she really wants to teach, or if the CFI certificate is simply as a means to build flight time and experience towards the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate and/or another job requiring more hours …
In the airline and air charter world, a flight crew is not alone in accomplishing their work. Besides the flight attendants caring for the passengers, the mechanics making sure the aircraft is in good working condition, the ground crew loading the baggage and cargo, and air traffic controllers guiding the flight through the air, there …
Since flying is such a complex operation, the reality of maintenance on any aircraft type can seem daunting. However, by paying close attention to the aircraft’s operation and keeping track of flight hours, pilots can keep their airplanes flying for years. Military aircraft follow maintenance procedures and intervals which are similar to the civilian world. …
READ MORE Essential FAA Aircraft Inspections: Ensure Safety & Longevity Through Compliance
Becoming accountable for yourself in a cockpit, not to mention your passengers, is a serious responsibility. Before you leave the ground on your own, it helps to familiarize yourself with several concepts and realities of pilot life. For example, learning to fly involves a lot of math and science. However, being a pilot doesn’t require …
READ MORE The Prep Work for Learning to Fly: What Do You Need to Learn Before Ever Flying a Plane?
Although commercial aviation is a relatively young industry, it has changed a great deal since its beginnings in the last century. Let’s have a look at commercial crew roles and how they evolved into their modern components. Meet The Crew In the early days of transport-category airplanes, it took a crew of many different …
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 …
READ MORE Don’t Pilots Have to Talk with Air Traffic Control?
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. …
READ MORE Do Small Airplanes Fly Better on Cold Days Than on Hot Days?
Giant airplanes like airliners and military transport aircraft use sophisticated, onboard methods to fly from Point A to Point B. Today, they usually use GPS (Global Positioning System) and/or a combination of other methods using lasers, gyroscopes, and other sophisticated stuff. Interestingly, a few years ago, the military deliberately downgraded the GPS signals the USA’s …
BAKERSFIELD, CA – To better serve Southern California residents, California Aeronautical University (CAU) launches its new Flight Centers in the communities of Oxnard and San Diego, California. The University Flight Centers provide local residents the opportunity to earn their Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics degree online from their hometown. Study Online, Fly Locally With …
If an airplane can zoom along at supersonic speeds and provide Wifi on demand, why are passengers still grabbing for barf bags and gripping armrests when it comes to turbulence? Why can’t pilots just stay away from it? The short answer: They can’t. Turbulence is basically weather, and therefore about as predictable. What is …
The Crash in the Desert At the Desert View Watch Tower on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, which offers an unparalleled view of the Colorado River and Painted Desert, a bronze plaque is part of thescene. It’s a monument to victims of a 1956 airplane crash, a jarring modern object near a …
An understanding of flight is rooted in a strong grasp of how an airplane gets in the air—and stays there. Both a passenger jet and a tiny paper airplane are governed by the same forces. Understanding airplane aerodynamics is key to a successful partnership with the atmosphere: They are the foundation for study for student …
Have you ever flown CLT to ORD to COS? If you read that as “Charlotte to Chicago to Colorado Springs,” you’re clued into the language of airport codes. The world’s most famous airports are familiar to us via media–who hasn’t seen the hero of a romantic comedy jump in a cab and yell “JFK, and …
READ MORE How Do Airport Codes Work To Identify Individual Airports?
Some pilots say that the only thing an airplane has in common with cars is that the tires are rubber, and that’s not really too far off the mark. The Wright brothers and their predecessors and later aeronauts developed a plethora of ideas from scratch that differ radically from the simple mechanics of ground-based transportation. …
Some people warm up their cars before taking to the road but others don’t. Some use electric turning signals, some use hand signals, and others don’t. There is a lot of variation in how people begin their drives with some using a more thoughtful, experienced approach and others just taking their chances. In aviation, with …