Flight Training Central

MARCH 10, 2025

To warn pilots of a high volume of pilot training or other unusual aerial activity. What is the minimum ceiling and visibility for takeoff, landing, or entering the traffic pattern of an airport in Class E airspace under visual flight rules? A ceiling of 1,000 feet and have visibility of at least 3 statute miles.

Visual Flight Rules

Plane and Pilot

JULY 22, 2025

As pilots, we have a certain luxury that many do not—to escape the confines of earth for fleeting moments of peace and disconnection. Consider yourself to be in the rarer class of today’s modern pilot. Originally built to train pilots for World War II, the company lost the official training contract to the Boeing PT-17 Stearman.

Runway

Aerotime

MARCH 21, 2025

Around 13 seconds before touchdown as the aircraft was descending through 153 feet above ground level (AGL) the TSB said the CRJ900s indicated airspeed increased to 154 knots whereas the ground speed did not change appreciably, consistent with a performance-increasing wind gust. The crew and the passengers immediately began evacuating.

Indicated Airspeed

Plane and Pilot

AUGUST 6, 2024

Maybe it’s the Georgia flying weather, or maybe it’s the ever-increasing emphasis on “old” pilot instead of “bold” pilot, but it seems that flight planning these days is a lot more about if and when than about route and altitude. But if I was going VFR over strange territory, I would want lots more than 1,000 feet agl.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 1, 2024

The conditions were a mile of visibility and about 500 feet of ragged ceiling, barely enough to maintain orientation by landmarks passing below. A low ceiling absolutely ends a planned flight, though visibility may be the legal determining factor in some situations. Execute the diversion.

Weather

Flight Training Central

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Thousands of simulated Private Pilot written exams are completed every month in Sporty’s Learn to Fly Course , but certain topics consistently trip up aspiring aviators. Here are the five most often missed questions from September 2024 on the simulated Private Pilot Knowledge Test. 3,823 feet MSL the surface 700 feet AGL Correct!

Pilot

Air Facts

MAY 10, 2024

A circling approach is one that, by dwindling numbers and its inherent design, forces the pilot(s) into a seldom used and high-risk evolution–often migrating us to an unexpected and seldom visited zip code of the threat/error management neighborhood. An acceptable meteorological combination of ceiling, visibility, and wind.

Approach

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

For most general aviation operations, it allows a pilot to descend to as low as 200′ AGL and assist a pilot in locating the runway in as low as 3/8 mile visibility. The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a precision approach and provides both lateral and vertical guidance to a runway.

Approach

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 17, 2024

Pilots are able to discontinue reporting compulsory points when informed by ATC that the aircraft is in “radar contact.” In the timeline below, the pilot will lose instrument currency on September 1st due to the previous six calendar months including four approaches rather than the needed six.

Instrument Flight Rules

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

As a relatively new pilot , I had failed to see the bigger picture. Often, turbulence is the harbinger of mountain waves, not the ideal ceiling—and visibility unlimited—day. FAA weather charts can help for higher altitudes but when just a few thousand feet agl, they may be less useful. That day was different. We didn’t test it.

Turbulence

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Weather reporting at the destination isnt required so long as some reliable source says theres at least 1000-foot ceilings and three miles visibly. The pilot can ask for the visual, or ATC can assign it. However, the pilot must have the airport, or the preceding aircraft, in sight. It cant be assigned; the pilot must request it.

Approach

Flight Training Central

MARCH 18, 2024

For example, a pilot flying IFR in controlled airspace will have to file an IFR flight plan and receive an ATC clearance. For the VFR pilot flying in B, C, and D airspace, there are communication and/or clearance requirements. Pilots must obtain an ATC clearance before entering Class A, and maintain two-way radio contact with ATC.

AGL

Flight Training Central

JULY 1, 2024

Since Class “E” airspace is basically “everywhere”, most of the focus is placed on identifying the ceiling and floor of the airspace. Class E airspace rarely goes all the way to the surface, and in non-mountainous terrain, the floor of Class E airspace is typically 700 feet or 1,200 feet AGL.

AGL

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

An instrument rated pilot, who has not logged any instrument time in 1 year or more, cannot serve as pilot in command under IFR, unless the pilot passes an instrument proficiency check followed by 6 hours and six instrument approaches, 3 of those hours in the category of aircraft involved. When operating in class E airspace.

Instrument Flight Rules

iPad Pilot News

JUNE 14, 2024

FAA Updates Datalink Weather Advisory Circular iPad Pilot News The rollout of ADS-B datalink weather over twelve years ago was an interesting time for GA pilots. Pilots were free to use the system immediately with these new portable receivers, which improved in-flight decision-making almost overnight.

Weather

Northstar VFR

JANUARY 4, 2023

by Gustin Robinson, FAA CFI-I ASEL Flying under instrument meteorological conditions keeps even a good pilot on their toes. As a student pilot you were always taught “see and avoid”, keep your eyes outside, etc. Ceiling 600 feet and visibility 2 statute miles. (B) Ceiling 800 feet and visibility 2 statute miles. (2)

Instrument Meteorological Conditions

Flying Magazine

MAY 15, 2024

You’re not supposed to feel it like you do the aircraft, but this can make you a better pilot as you will develop instrument scan and interpretation skills. READ MORE: Our Pilots of the Future May Share Sim Stories Partial power loss scenarios—especially at low altitude—are very useful. It’s an ATD. It’s just a few minutes, right?

Crosswind

Flying Magazine

APRIL 30, 2024

The complexity of the instrument panel has served either to intrigue or intimidate potential pilots. Subscribe Now Featured And for new pilots—and this pilot who flies Cirrus aircraft sporadically—as opposed to a seasoned owner or dedicated Cirrus instructor, the barrier to entry and re-entry has fallen significantly.

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

AUGUST 9, 2024

The pilot was the passenger’s boyfriend. The boyfriend was a VFR private pilot with about 380 hours logged, properly certificated, and current. Approaching their destination, the pilot asked Memphis Center ATC for an airport weather report. The pilot S-turned and circled the area several times at about 2,500 feet.

Instrument Meteorological Conditions

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 1, 2024

The conditions were a mile of visibility and about 500 feet of ragged ceiling, barely enough to maintain orientation by landmarks passing below. A low ceiling absolutely ends a planned flight, though visibility may be the legal determining factor in some situations. Execute the diversion.

Weather

Plane and Pilot

AUGUST 9, 2024

The pilot was the passenger’s boyfriend. The boyfriend was a VFR private pilot with about 380 hours logged, properly certificated, and current. Approaching their destination, the pilot asked Memphis Center ATC for an airport weather report. The pilot S-turned and circled the area several times at about 2,500 feet.

Instrument Meteorological Conditions

Photographic Logbook

FEBRUARY 4, 2024

Stir Crazy In aviation safety circles, a mental condition colloquially known as "get-there-itis" characterizes a pilot so mission focused, so determined to reach a destination, that they make unsafe decisions. More often than not, winter flying in Upstate New York is contingent on the ceiling.

Ceiling

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Cloud ceilings below 1,500 feet or cumulonimbus clouds can trigger a SPECI. Tornadoes, funnel clouds, volcanic ash, or dust storms are extremely dangerous to all pilots. This information is vital for determining cloud ceilings, especially during landing approaches. As a pilot, you should pay close attention to this section.

Altimeter

Pilot Institute

APRIL 24, 2024

Pilots must meet equipment and certification requirements and have ATC clearance to enter. This central core extends up to around 10,000 feet MSL, the airspace’s ceiling. However, the ceiling for each shelf is the same as the core. Although Class B airspace has a typical ceiling of 10,000 feet MSL, exceptions exist.

Clearance

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Weather reporting at the destination isnt required so long as some reliable source says theres at least 1000-foot ceilings and three miles visibly. The pilot can ask for the visual, or ATC can assign it. However, the pilot must have the airport, or the preceding aircraft, in sight. It cant be assigned; the pilot must request it.

Approach

Flight Training Central

OCTOBER 25, 2024

As a Part 107 drone pilot (commercial operator), or as a recreational drone flyer, operations in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace are allowed without air traffic control permission. In these LAANC enabled areas, authorizations are provided to drone pilots through companies approved by the FAA.

Air Traffic Control

Air Facts

APRIL 24, 2024

Dad, a seasoned VFR pilot, was at the controls. I, a 19 year old greenhorn with a brand new pilot’s license in my wallet, sat at his right. We had light winds, good visibility, full cloud cover, and ample ceiling heights. What was changing, however, wasn’t the visibility, or ceiling heights, or wind—at least not perceivably.

Turbulence

Learn to Fly

MARCH 12, 2024

Some of the most important jargon you’ll learn as a pilot has to be how to read a METAR. These “aviation routine weather reports” provide pilots with an accurate depiction of current weather conditions at an airport. RVR is the distance a pilot can see down the runway in a moving aircraft. Visibility is ¾ statute mile.

Weather

Professional Pilot

AUGUST 8, 2024

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. Aviation writers and safety pundits hate writing about this topic as much as pilots hate reading about it. Houston, we have a problem. Yet here we are.

Approach

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

I checked the weather by phone and was assured it would be great CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited) with 2-3-knot winds from 090 degrees. 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. The post Where There’s Smoke… appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Threshold

Air Facts

APRIL 29, 2024

KCPC was reporting IFR conditions with a 700’ ceiling and one mile visibility. I queried ATC about when to expect the approach clearance and was informed that the Saratoga had appeared to land but the pilot hadn’t contacted ATC to close his IFR flight plan. I immediately leveled off at around 650’ AGL, and began slowing down.

Descent