Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 15, 2025

These would guide them when they couldn’t see anything outside their airplane. On approach charts, youll usually see both the decision height (DH) and the decision altitude (DA). Theyre pretty much the same thing, but heres the difference: DH is measured above the ground (AGL). DA is measured above sea level (MSL).

Approach

AV Web

DECEMBER 11, 2024

The airplane was even able to taxi off the runway and to the ramp under its own power. Your second reactionwhich actually should be part of the initial oneshould be to establish the best engine-out glide airspeed and ensure the airplane is aerodynamically clean: gear and flaps up, cowl flaps closed. Or all three.

Runway

Flying Magazine

JULY 16, 2025

Your approach speed is an essential precursor to a good landing, even—or, perhaps, especially—for an instrument pilot. More specifically, fast (aka high-energy) approaches, can be requested by ATC and become a trap and possibly lead to a bent airplane or, worse still, a fatal outcome. Let’s start by looking at that trap.

Approach

iPad Pilot News

JUNE 7, 2024

The companion datalink traffic feature took a little longer to reach maturity, requiring your airplane to be equipped with an ADS-B Out transponder to get the full traffic picture. That limitation is now in the past since nearly every airplane flying in busy and high-altitude airspace is ADS-B out equipped.

Turbulence

Air Facts

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

If you’ve arrived at a non-towered airport recently, especially one with a busy flight school, you may have heard another airplane announce something to the effect of “overhead for the teardrop entry.” This is not an instrument procedure, but rather a way to enter the traffic pattern when approaching from the opposite side of the runway.

Crosswind

Air Facts

MAY 10, 2024

A perfectly good airplane with everything operating as expected. A high degree of pilot proficiency, competence as well as currency (currency in Circling Approaches specifically). What speed on final approach? At what AGL altitude will the aircraft be in a stable/configured condition? No later than).

Approach

Flight Training Central

DECEMBER 4, 2023

A pilot needs to control the airplane in a manner that the wings support the weight of the airplane as long as practical to minimize stresses imposed on the landing gear by a rough surface or to prevent sinking into a soft surface. The approach for the soft-field landing is similar to the normal approach.

Approach

Air Facts

APRIL 24, 2024

Then, finally, after several of these episodes, and “staying with it,” we achieved short final, with our airport now filling our windshield. Then, descending through just a few hundred feet AGL, and a few hundred yards from the end of the runway, the turbulence diminished. We had no idea how this was going to end.

Turbulence

Pilot Institute

DECEMBER 19, 2024

Final approach: This is the straight path leading to your landing. Pattern altitudes are typically 1,000 feet above ground level (AGL) for piston aircraft. Crosswind leg: You turn 90 degrees to the upwind leg, flying perpendicular to the runway. Downwind leg: You fly parallel to the runway in the opposite direction of landing.

Pilot

Professional Pilot

AUGUST 8, 2024

Challenger 604, G-IV Contributing Writer Pilatus PC-12 on approach at ORL. Air traffic control instructions often lead to unstable approaches. The request to make a short approach or maintain a higher-than-normal speed to the final approach fix is the most common reason pilots don’t meet stable approach criteria.

Approach

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

Folding up the chart to show the first leg, I took a look around to make sure I had not forgotten anything I walked up to the airplane and placed my chart, E6-B, and plotter on the instrument panel. With nothing to lose, at a little over 1,000 feet agl, I started a turn to the left, looking for a place to land. I flew into it, unaware.

Runway

Air Facts

APRIL 29, 2024

ATC then informed us we were number two for the approach and to maintain 4,000’. This necessitated slowing the airplane down to leave the vertical space to descend another 2,000’ to reach the initial approach fix (IAF) at 2,000′ I requested a descent to the IAF altitude of 2,000’ but was only cleared to 3,000’.

Descent

Chess In the Air

JUNE 24, 2022

This is a hard one to gain insight from other than this: Some atmospheric events are bigger than our plastic airplanes. He only needed a glide ratio of 14:1 to reach the airfield to arrive at a typical pattern altitude of 1,000 ft AGL. At this point he still had an altitude of 8,275 ft MSL, i.e. 2,739 ft AGL.

Pilot

Pilot Institute

JUNE 26, 2024

A go-around is a maneuver performed to abort or reject a landing on the final approach or once the aircraft has already touched down. A common situation is if an aircraft is on final approach, and another holding on the runway cannot take off in time. In IFR, retract flaps at the appropriate speed above 400ft AGL.

Wind Shear