Topic Category: Checkride Prep

Short Field Takeoff

Short Field Takeoff The purpose of a short field takeoff is to get the airplane off the ground and high enough to clear a 50′ obstacle in the shortest distance required.  Now not all obstacles are created equally (and not all are 50′ tall), however you will commonly hear this 50′ height used in aviation… Continue reading Short Field Takeoff

Highspeed Taxiing

Time to Fly! (almost) Highspeed taxiing is the same as regular taxiing, simply done on the runway, with a little more power, and moving faster to get you used to the control feel at higher speeds you will eventually be landing at.  While you perform this during every normal takeoff, the point of this maneuver… Continue reading Highspeed Taxiing

Reading the Weather – TAFs

Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts TAFs are very similar to METARs in the sense that they use the same coding abbreviations and a very similar structure.  Obviously the main difference between a METAR and a TAF is that the TAF is a forecast while the METAR is just a quick snapshot in time, and is instantly old… Continue reading Reading the Weather – TAFs

How To Practice Stalls

The Fun Part! How to properly practice stalls in the real airplane.  Hopefully after watching the video above you will have a better understanding of the process of actually stalling the airplane, and realize it really is a gentle and safe maneuver to practice with your CFI. Remember: Choose a safe altitude (recommended that you… Continue reading How To Practice Stalls

Stalled Airflow

Check out the video above to have a look at what actually happens to the airflow over the wing of an airplane when it stalls.   Some important stuff: Two important things to notice from the diagrams above: You do generate more lift at higher angles of attack (however with more lift you generate substantially… Continue reading Stalled Airflow

Angle Of Attack

The Angle it Attacks Angle of Attack, or AOA as we’ll call it going forward, is technically defined as such: THE ANGLE AT WHICH THE RELATIVE WIND MEETS THE CHORD LINE OF THE WING. Now, that sounds awful fancy, so let’s break it down a bit. The Chord Line is the line that goes from… Continue reading Angle Of Attack

The Secret to Being Stable

The trick to being more stable than Charlie Sheen isn’t just abstaining from drugs and alcohol.  Safe and STABLE approaches all start with how you handle the aircraft and how you interpret the signs the aircraft is giving you. What’s the Definition? Let’s go ahead and define what qualifies for a “stable” approach.  To me,… Continue reading The Secret to Being Stable

Flying in the Wind

By about lesson 3 in your training you probably will have had the opportunity to experience a few takeoffs and landings, and there’s a good chance there was some wind involved in at least a few of those. If you haven’t yet seen a nice crosswind blowing across the runway, you’re lucky, and this TOPIC… Continue reading Flying in the Wind

Taxiing in the Wind

You’ll often find that it is always windy at the airport whenever you want to fly, whether or not you live in Kansas. This means you’ll be needing to get very familiar with how to maneuver your new found friend (airplane) around in the wind. Gone with the wind Given that the airplanes we fly… Continue reading Taxiing in the Wind