Class Charlie, the Two-Way Radio Rule, and Why Hearing Your Own Callsign Is the Only Thing That Legally Lets You In
Class Charlie airspace requires two-way radio communication before entry, established the moment ATC answers using your callsign.
Traffic Pattern
Flight training and pilot development with Pattern. Practical techniques, checkride preparation, weather decision-making, and the skills every pilot needs from student to ATP.
FAR Ninety-One One Thirteen, the Right-of-Way Rules, and Who Yields to Whom When Two Airplanes Want the Same Piece of Sky
A pilot's guide to FAR 91.113 right-of-way rules: who yields in converging, head-on, and overtaking encounters, and why the answer is almost always 'turn right.'
FAR Ninety-One Two Oh Five, the Instrument Checklist Behind the Word ATOMATOFLAMES, and Why the Placard on Your Panel Isn't the Whole Story on What Has to Work Before You Fly
FAR 91.205 and the ATOMATOFLAMES memory aid tell you what equipment your aircraft needs - but the real answer depends on when and how you fly.
Slow Flight, the 2017 Rewrite of the Airman Certification Standards, and Why the Stall Warning Horn Should Stay Silent on Your Checkride
The 2017 ACS rewrite means slow flight is flown just above stall warning - horn silent. Here's how to fly it right and pass your checkride.
The DECIDE Model, the Six-Step Loop the FAA Built for the Moment the Plan Falls Apart, and the Marginal-VFR Afternoon That Puts It to the Test
Radio Hangar explores The DECIDE Model, the Six-Step Loop the FAA Built for the Moment the Plan Falls Apart, and the Marginal-VFR Afternoon That Puts It to the Test.
The Engine-Out Forced Landing, the ABCDE Flow, and Choosing Your Field Before the Propeller Ever Stops
Learn the ABCDE forced-landing flow and how choosing your field early turns a total engine failure into a routine glide.
The Go-Around, the Balked Landing, and the Four Things That Have to Happen in the Right Order When You Decide Not to Land
Learn the go-around: when to decide, the correct power-pitch-flaps sequence, and the common mistakes that turn a routine maneuver into an emergency.
The Maximum Elevation Figure, the Little Blue Number in Every Grid on Your Sectional, and How It Keeps You Above the Tallest Thing You Cannot See at Night
The Maximum Elevation Figure is the little blue number in every sectional grid that guarantees terrain and obstacle clearance - here's how to use it.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast, the TAF, and How FM, BECMG, and TEMPO Tell You When the Weather Is Actually Going to Change
Radio Hangar explores The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast, the TAF, and How FM, BECMG, and TEMPO Tell You When the Weather Is Actually Going to Change.
The Winds Aloft Forecast, Decoding a Line of the FB Product, and How Two-Six-Three-Five-Minus-Oh-Eight Tells You Which Altitude to Actually Fly
Learn to decode the winds and temperatures aloft (FB) forecast and use it to pick the altitude that saves you time and fuel.
Where to Look in the Flare, Why Your Eyes Move to the Far End of the Runway and How That One Fix Cleans Up a Whole Season of Ugly Landings
Where you look in the flare fixes ugly landings: shift your eyes to the far end of the runway so peripheral vision reads your height.
AIRMET Sierra, Tango, and Zulu, the Three Weather Advisories Hiding in Plain Sight in Your Briefing, and How to Read Them Before They Read You
Learn what AIRMET Sierra, Tango, and Zulu mean, how they differ from SIGMETs, and how to read them before every flight.
Class Bravo, the Upside-Down Wedding Cake, and the Two Words - Cleared Into the Bravo - That Every Other Airspace Doesn't Require
Class Bravo airspace requires an explicit 'cleared into the Bravo' from ATC - not just radio contact or a squawk code - to enter legally.
FAR Ninety-One One Fifty-One, the Fuel Reserve Rule, and Why Thirty Minutes in the Tank Is a Legal Minimum, Not a Plan
FAR 91.151 requires 30 minutes of VFR fuel reserve by day and 45 by night - but here's why that's a legal floor, not a plan.
FAR Ninety-One One Seventeen, the Speed Limits, and Why Two Hundred and Fifty Knots Below Ten Thousand Is the Rule Almost Nobody Explains to a Student Pilot
Radio Hangar explores FAR Ninety-One One Seventeen, the Speed Limits, and Why Two Hundred and Fifty Knots Below Ten Thousand Is the Rule Almost Nobody Explains to a Student Pilot.
One Hundred Seventy-Eight Seconds, the Illinois Study on VFR Into Instrument Conditions, and the One Eighty Turn That Saves the Pilot Who Decides Early
Why untrained pilots average just 178 seconds in the clouds - and how the early 180° turn keeps VFR-into-IMC off the accident report.
The E6B Whiz Wheel, the Cardboard Slide Rule From 1937 That Still Solves Your Cross-Country Faster Than a Dead Battery Will
The E6B whiz wheel, a 1937 mechanical flight computer, still solves groundspeed, time, fuel, and wind problems when your electronics fail.
The In-Flight Engine Fire, the Mixture to Idle Cutoff, and Why You Dive to Blow the Flames Out Instead of Slowing Down
How to handle an in-flight engine, electrical, or cabin fire: cut the fuel, dive to blow out the flames, and get on the ground fast.
The Pilot Report, the UUA That Means Somebody Is Already in Trouble Up There, and Why You Are the Only Weather Sensor at Seven Thousand Five Hundred Feet
Learn to read and file PIREPs (pilot reports) - the only aviation weather product created by a pilot inside the weather in real time.
The Steep Turn, the Forty-Five-Degree Bank, and Why Almost Everybody Climbs When They Should Be Watching the Nose
Master the 45-degree steep turn by flying the sight picture, keeping your eyes outside, and correcting altitude with small bank changes.