All these types of Fog are foggy in my brain! While there are 6 different types of fog, they all have somewhat unique characteristics, and at the end of the day all you really need to know is when to expect fog to appear out of thin air. For the purposes of your written test,… Continue reading Fog
Topic Category: Student Pilot
Basic Cloud Types
Cloud Spotting Games Next time you have nothing better to do, go be a kid again and look up at the clouds and see what shapes and animals you can find in the sky. Just this time around, add a little twist to it and see if you can also identify which of the main… Continue reading Basic Cloud Types
Weather Fronts
Don’t stand in front of that Front! Well actually let’s say don’t stand fly in front of that front. A Front is a boundary or transition zone between two air masses of different densities (think oil and vinegar). Air masses of different densities don’t mix well, thus the layer in between them is the FRONT. … Continue reading Weather Fronts
GPS Basics
Siri, navigate my plane to Key West Airport……. If only it were that easy…..but that would take a lot of the fun out of flying! Half the fun is just getting there, so let’s take a look at how you can still have fun and get there without too much difficulty using GPS. We’ll cover… Continue reading GPS Basics
VFR Chart Basics
I love this Section(al)! Me TOO! I mean, I love sectional charts. The Sectional Chart or “VFR Chart” is the primary map used by VFR pilots to navigate between airports or operate out of a new or unfamiliar airport. In this TOPIC we are going to cover the basics of using this chart so you… Continue reading VFR Chart Basics
VOR Navigation Made Easy
Fly me TO the moon! Ya, well, there isn’t a VOR station on the moon so we can’t actually use a VOR to get to the moon. You can only use a VOR to navigate directly TO or FROM wherever the station on the ground is located (often at or near an airport). Before we… Continue reading VOR Navigation Made Easy
The Weighing and Balancing Act
How much to put where? Manually calculating weight and balance is really the same as your basic high school math class. Take the example below to warm up your brain and get in back into math mode if its been a while since you were in a high school math class. After that, go ahead… Continue reading The Weighing and Balancing Act
The Instrument Panel Explained
The Power of the Panel While as a Private Pilot you will be training to fly VFR only and constantly look outside the cockpit, it is still important to have a basis of knowledge of how all the instruments work (along with being able to fly by reference to instruments in an absolute pinch). In… Continue reading The Instrument Panel Explained
Electrical System
Gee, that’s shocking! Let’s look a electricity in a new way. In this TOPIC, we’ll talk about electricity as if it was water flowing through pipes instead of electrons flowing through wires. Watch the video above, and then check out these quick cheat-sheet facts for you here: Airplanes are either 14 volt or 28 volt… Continue reading Electrical System
Managing Your Engine
You want the engine to like it’s Manager Pilot. As the PIC you are going to be doing your best to take care of your engine. We’ll cover a few hot topics of what you should and shouldn’t do to ensure your engine runs right, as well as troubleshooting when it feels like it’s slacking a… Continue reading Managing Your Engine