If at first, you fail, then GO AROUND and try, try again. There’s no shame in realizing your approach down to the runway isn’t looking so great (in fact its a true skill to be able to realize ahead of time when things aren’t going so hot), and electing to Go Around and try again,… Continue reading Go Arounds
Topic Category: Written Prep
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
Reading the Weather – METARs
METARs METARs are a snapshot in time, a simple observation of what the weather was doing at a particular moment. They are an excellent tool to tell you if the weather is okay right now, but offer no forecast into the future. REMEMBER: They are a direct observation of what is happening at and over… Continue reading Reading the Weather – METARs
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
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
Steep Turns
How to turn the Airplane: While making turns in the airplane may seem simple, making coordinated, level turns and rolling out specifically where you want the aircraft to point does take some skill and practice. In this topic we’ll cover the fundamentals of being able to turn the airplane to a specific heading while also… Continue reading Steep Turns
The Traffic Pattern
Flying the Traffic Pattern: In this topic, we’ll cover the standard airport traffic pattern, how to stay in the airport traffic pattern without going out to the practice area, as well as how to re-enter the traffic pattern when returning from the practice area or coming back from another airport. First watch the video above,… Continue reading The Traffic Pattern
The Power Curve
It’s all about the POWER: Of course big powerful airplanes are cool, but in reality most of the training aircraft we fly have relatively little power with max horsepower ratings somewhere between 100-180hp. Since this isn’t enough power to make the airplane climb vertically like a fighter jet, we need to think about how best… Continue reading The Power Curve
Radio Calls at Non-Towered Airports
How to Talk on the Radio: In this topic, we are going to cover primarily how to talk on the radio at a non-towered airport, although much of the basic phraseology is interchangeable between talking to ATC and simply “self-announcing”. Watch the video above for examples of calls to make in the traffic pattern at… Continue reading Radio Calls at Non-Towered Airports