How The Existence of Weather Impacts Flight
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 …
Learn to Fly
The Prep Work for Learning to Fly: What Do You Need to Learn Before Ever Flying a Plane?
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 …
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Differences Between Airspace Classifications
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 …
V1 and Other Airspeeds
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 …
Do Small Airplanes Fly Better on Cold Days Than on Hot Days?
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 …
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How Do Small Airplanes Find Their Way Around?
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 …
The Science Behind Turbulence
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? …
How Air Traffic Control Keeps Us Safe
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 …
Airplane Aerodynamics
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 …
How Do Airport Codes Work To Identify Individual Airports?
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 …
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Airplane Instrument Errors
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 …
What Happens During a Small-Plane Takeoff?
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 …
Preparing a Small Airplane for an Anticipated Hard Landing
With all of the safety advances in equipment and in pilot training, the vast majority of airplane problems are surmountable, and even if an airplane makes its way to the …
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Why Small Planes Don’t Have Oxygen for Passengers & Pilots
Oxygen (O2) is the most vital of the gases that comprise our atmosphere. The typical percent of oxygen in breathable air is 20.9%, although we can live with as little …
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Airplane Preflight
Pilots are taught that they must check out an airplane with great care before taking to the air with the machine. This process is called a preflight. But what goes …
Airplane Landings
Whether you’re sitting in an airport restaurant gazing out at the runway or maybe standing at a small airport with your nose poked through the chain-link fence watching airplane landings …
What Passengers Can Do in Small Plane Emergencies
Let’s begin with this: Airplane accidents and incidents, whether in a relatively small plane like a four-seater or in giant airliners, are incredibly-rare events and, despite the common fiction, people …
The Easy and Hard Parts of Learning to Fly
Remember back when you were learning how to drive? At the beginning, it was probably kind of confusing, especially if you were trying to learn on a stick shift. How fast …
Potential Distractions in the Cockpit
In commercial airline flights these days the cabin where the pilots are located is always locked up and secured, allowing the pilot and co-pilot to fly the plane without distractions. …
Dead Bug Landings
Most fields of endeavor have tricks of the trade or rules of thumb that help practitioners take care of business more easily. For example, one trick to parallel-parking a normal …