The Whiskey Compass, ANDS and UNOS, and Why the One Instrument With No Moving Parts Lies to You in Every Turn
Learn why the magnetic compass lies in turns and speed changes, and how ANDS and UNOS help you read it correctly.
Patternflight training
Turns Around a Point, the Ground Reference Maneuver Where the Wind Does the Grading and Most Students Fly a Circle That Isn't One
Radio Hangar explores Turns Around a Point, the Ground Reference Maneuver Where the Wind Does the Grading and Most Students Fly a Circle That Isn't One.
PatternFAR Ninety-One One Nineteen, Minimum Safe Altitudes, and How Low You Can Legally Fly Before the Ground and the Feds Both Get a Vote
FAR 91.119 sets the legal floor for how low you can fly: 1,000 ft over congested areas, 500 ft over open country. Here's what it really means.
PatternFAR Ninety-One Two Eleven, Supplemental Oxygen, and the Thirty-Minute Rule That Keeps a Clear Head at Cabin Altitude
FAR 91.211 requires pilots to use supplemental oxygen above 12,500 ft for over 30 minutes - here's why the rule exists.
PatternReading a Raw METAR From the Top, Decoding One Line of Code Field by Field So the Weather Talks Back to You
Learn to read a raw METAR left to right - station, time, wind, visibility, sky, temp, and altimeter - so the weather talks back to you.
PatternSlow Flight, the Maneuver the FAA Quietly Rewrote in Twenty Sixteen, and Why the Stall Horn Should Stay Quiet This Time
Radio Hangar explores Slow Flight, the Maneuver the FAA Quietly Rewrote in Twenty Sixteen, and Why the Stall Horn Should Stay Quiet This Time.
PatternThe Crosswind Landing, the Wing-Low Sideslip, and Why the Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind Component Is Not the Limit You Think It Is
How the wing-low sideslip works, what examiners want, and why the maximum demonstrated crosswind component is not a hard limit.
PatternThe Five P Check, the Single-Pilot Resource Management Tool That Runs at Every Decision Point - Plan, Plane, Pilot, Passengers, and Programming
Learn the FAA's Five P check - Plan, Plane, Pilot, Passengers, Programming - and how to run it at five decision points on every flight.
PatternThe Impossible Turn, the Two-Hundred-Foot Decision After an Engine Failure on Takeoff, and Why the Instinct to Turn Back Is the One That Kills
Why the instinct to turn back after an engine failure on takeoff kills pilots - and how to brief the safer decision before every departure.
PatternThe TAF and the Change Groups, What BECMG, TEMPO, and PROB Thirty Really Promise You When You Read a Terminal Forecast
Learn what BECMG, TEMPO, and PROB30 actually promise in a TAF so you can read a terminal forecast like a pilot and make smart go/no-go calls.
PatternCarburetor Ice, the Trap That Forms on a Warm Clear Day, and the Carb Heat Habit That Keeps a Running Engine From Going Quiet
Carb ice can choke a healthy engine even on a warm 70°F day - here's how carb heat and the right habits keep you safe.
PatternClass Bravo, the Upside-Down Wedding Cake, and the Clearance You Must Actually Hear Before You Enter
Class Bravo airspace requires an explicit 'cleared into the Bravo' clearance - here's how to read the shelves, meet the rules, and transition safely.
PatternMOSAIC, the FAA Rule That Tore Up the Weight Limit and Rewrote What a Sport Pilot Can Fly
The FAA's MOSAIC rule scrapped the 1,320-lb weight limit for light sport aircraft, redefining eligibility around a 61-knot stall speed.
TowerSteep Turns, Forty-Five Degrees of Bank, and the Hundred-Foot Window the Examiner Is Watching on Your Private Checkride
Steep turns test attention division and error correction, not banking - here's how to hold the examiner's 100-foot window on your private checkride.
PatternThe Diversion, When the Examiner Points to a Dot on the Chart and Says Take Me There Now, and the Clock, Compass, and Thumb That Bring You Around
Learn how to fly a diversion the way examiners actually want: turn first, pick a smart airport, then estimate heading, time, and fuel.
PatternThe Go-Around, the Balked Landing, and Why the Pilots Who Fail It Are the Ones Who Waited Too Long to Decide
Learn when and how to fly a go-around - and why deciding early, not the maneuver itself, is what keeps pilots safe.
PatternThe Pipistrel Velis Electro, the First Electric Airplane the Regulators Ever Signed Off On, and What Fifty Minutes of Battery Really Buys You
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the first type-certified electric airplane, with ~50 minutes of flight and cheap operating costs for pattern training.
VectorAlaska Awaits in Microsoft Flight Simulator Twenty Twenty-Four, and What Virtual Bush Flying Can Teach a Real Pilot
The Floatplane Pilot pack for MSFS 2024 drops pilots into Alaskan bush flying - here's what it can and can't teach a real aviator.
TowerFAR Part Twenty-Two Clears the Sling and the R V for IMC Training, and What a Composite Trainer in the Clouds Means for the Flight School Down the Road
New FAA Part 22 lets Sling and Van's two-seat trainers fly instrument students in actual IMC - cheaper, modern IFR training.
TowerRadio Dead on Downwind, the Light Gun Signals, and How a Tower Talks to You When Your Voice Is Gone
Learn what light gun signals mean and how to handle a radio failure at a towered airport, step by step.
Pattern