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
Topic Category: Written Prep
What Makes it Work
The big loud magic! Engines may seem like magic, and if they do, that’s not a problem at all. By the end of this TOPIC you should be able to fully explain and understand how they work, and what the components are that make them up! We’ll cover all the basic components that comprise your… Continue reading What Makes it Work
Takeoff and Landing Calculations
How much runway do you need? Calculating how much runway is required for your airplane to takeoff and land is something specifically required for you to do each preflight by the FARs. It’s actually easier than you might think, and over the years aircraft manufacturers have made the charts more and more user-friendly to use.… Continue reading Takeoff and Landing Calculations
Regulations (FARs Lite)
A light dose of rules Well, yes there are a lot of rules involved in flying, along with some unique nomenclature you may not have heard before. Given that this may very well be the “driest” part of your flight training, we’ve decided to break it up into a few parts, and it’s about that… Continue reading Regulations (FARs Lite)
Flying Blind: Simulated Instrument Practice
I see said the blind man! Ya, well, not really. If you are unlucky enough to have accidentally flown into a cloud, you won’t see much other than sweat streaming down your face and your instruments indicating strange things you do not actually feel happening. The trouble with flying in the clouds is that your… Continue reading Flying Blind: Simulated Instrument Practice
Class C Airspace
Hey Charlie, there’s some airspace up ahead Yes, there is, and it’s fairly straightforward and simple airspace at that. Not only are the dimension of Class C airspace easy to understand, it is also easy to enter. The Requirements to Enter: Transponder Two-way radio communication (usually by first calling approach control) Establish communication with approach… Continue reading Class C Airspace
Class B Airspace
Class B, the busy stuff To make sense of this complicated cake, let’s build it from the ground up! At a Class B airport, you have Ground Control, just like you would at a Class C or Class D airport. Ground control issues taxi clearances. You have Tower Control, same as any other towered airport. … Continue reading Class B Airspace
Class A Airspace
Class A, that’s high eh? Class A airspace is a fairly straight forward type of airspace to understand, it covers the entire globe, from 18,000′ msl or FL180 (flight level 180) up to and including FL600 (or 60,000′ msl). Requirements: You need a Altitude encoding transponder An instrument rating and be on an IFR flight… Continue reading Class A Airspace
Class E Airspace
The Everywhere Airspace Echo airspace is the most common type of airspace you will encounter, no matter where it is you fly in the country. You will find Echo airspace below 18.000′ msl everywhere that either Class B, C, D, or G airspace does not occupy. Echo airspace is controlled airspace, but does not typically… Continue reading Class E Airspace
Class D Airspace
The real “Controlled” Controlled Airspace Class D airspace is controlled and also has a control tower for the corresponding airport that will issue clearances to aircraft to taxi, takeoff, and land. The difference between a Class D airport and other airports is that it may be just slightly busy enough to warrant having a control… Continue reading Class D Airspace