Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

We train pilots step-by-step, combining hands-on practice and expert guidance to build confidence and skill in handling crosswinds safely. Pilots calculate the crosswind component by determining the wind direction and speed relative to the runway heading. Work on timing your rudder and aileron inputs to be smooth and coordinated.

Crosswind

Inflight Pilot Training

MARCH 13, 2025

Mistakes are a natural part of learning, but understanding common pitfalls ahead of time can help you progress more efficiently, build confidence, and become a safer pilot. In this comprehensive guide, well take a deep dive into the top 10 mistakes student pilots make, why they happen, and actionable strategies to avoid them.

Pilot

Flying Magazine

JUNE 18, 2025

Sales pros tell us that while inventory might be more plentiful than it was just a couple of years ago as older pilots walk away from their Bonanzas (many forced out by the hardened insurance market that frowns upon senior pilots flying retracs), resale prices remain strong. Bonanza pilots learn early on to use the electric pitch trim.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

MAY 3, 2025

Fearsome metal airplanes helped win a global conflict, yet pilots came home to variations on prewar designs of tube-and-fabric construction and modest performance. Thorp joined the Piper design team during the Cherokees development; his own Sky Scooter used a stabilator. Oregon pilot Randy Widell agrees.

Approach

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 18, 2025

Photo by NASA The impetus for the program came from issues the Navy had encountered with inadvertent spin entries, which were traced back to the aircrafts aileron rudder interconnect system. In response, the NASA/Navy/Grumman team developed and tested four different configurations of the system to mitigate the problem.

Horizontal Stabilizer

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 1, 2025

The pilot also reported that the aircraft was sluggish and underpowered. feet high at the tip of the vertical stabilizer. It was controlled by a conventional rudder and full-span elevons that functioned as elevators and ailerons. Photo NACA/NASA The single-place XF-92A airplane had a delta wing swept at 60 degrees.

Airfoil

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Sometimes it’s emotional—the Beech Starship, what few of them are still in the wild, inevitably wow viewers of both the pilot and nonpilot persuasion. Sure, there are the removable wings and an unusual-for-an-RV stabilator out back for pitch control, but there’s nothing revolutionary in the concepts or execution. But successful?

Airplanes

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 25, 2025

Because the aircraft would be hanging from the structure of the Transportation Gallerys balcony, the left wing was removed from the aircraft, with only the right wing brought inside for reattachment, along with the tail stabilizers and the engines. On the nose of the cockpit section, the aircraft also bears the name of Captain William R.

Cockpit

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 20, 2025

Cliff Saari and his fellow P-47 Thunderbolt pilots were hunting for more trouble. Saari completed 80 missions in the Thunderbolt, and like many other pilots, attributed his survival to the ruggedness of Republics groundbreaking fighter. In other pilots, the plane inspired confidence. “I was never afraid of it.

Tail

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

Newton’s Third Law helps pilots and engineers improve flight safety and aircraft performance. If the pilot increases the wings angle of attack too much, the airflow can separate from the wings surface, causing a stall – an abrupt loss of lift. What does Newtons Third law tell pilots about thrust?

Torque

WayMan

MAY 25, 2025

For anyone training to become a pilot or aviation technician, understanding the anatomy of an aircraft is one of the first essential steps. Wings also include movable surfaces like ailerons (used to roll the plane left or right) and flaps (used to increase lift at lower speeds, especially during takeoff and landing).

Lift

Pilot Institute

APRIL 22, 2025

Think of them as the lessons where you learn to master wind correction, aircraft control, and situational awareness all critical skills for a safe and proficient pilot. Use coordinated aileron and rudder pressures to swiftly, but not excessively, angle into this turn. Uncoordinated use of aileron and rudder, leading to slips or skids.

Crosswind

Vintage Aviation News

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

Engineers struggled to stabilize the aircraft’s center of mass, and the V-3420 engine often failed to deliver its expected power output. Other issues included insufficient engine cooling, excessive aileron forces at high speeds, and poor spin recovery. By early 1944, six XP-75 prototypes joined the test program.

Tail

Flying Magazine

JUNE 30, 2025

CubCrafters offered to bring FLYING the first of the kitbuilt NXCubs to north Idaho and turn us loose with it for two weeks to fly into the backcountry—introducing pilots of all experience and skill levels to the airplane. If there is a way to open backcountry flying safely for more pilots, we’re all for it.

Gross Weight

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 23, 2024

A flat spin is a thrilling (and potentially dangerous) flight phenomenon that pilots must prepare for. In reality, flat spins can challenge even experienced pilots, making it important for you to understand what they are and how to handle them. Ready to become a safer pilot? Ailerons: Neutral. Let’s get started!

Center of Gravity

Air Facts

JULY 7, 2025

I dug into concepts like relative wind, positive static stability, load factors in turns, and maneuvering speed. After my flight with the DPE, I became a private pilot. In the months that followed, I added an instrument rating, which helped me deepen my knowledge and have more nuanced conversations with instructors and fellow pilots.

Rudder

Vintage Aviation News

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

The wing was built in three sections (a center section that was integral with the fuselage and extended to the engine nacelles, and two outer sections), and were all-metal except for the fabric-covered control surfaces such as the ailerons. 274, made its maiden flight with test pilot Enrico Rolandi at the controls. 20s had survived.

Payload

Vintage Aviation News

FEBRUARY 1, 2025

Both aircraft were the product of a design team led by Mervyn O’Gorman, the factory superintendent at Farnborough with Geoffrey de Havilland serving as chief engineer and test pilot. 2 had a two-man crew consisting of a pilot, sitting in the rear position, for balance reasons, and an observer, in the front seat, between the wings.

Cockpit

Vintage Aviation News

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Both the vertical and horizontal stabilizers were made of wood and fabric, while the construction of the wing involved wooden spars and ribs, with metal leading edges inboard of the engine nacelles, plywood leading edges on the outer panels, and doped fabric on the trailing section. The first four Ca.310s

Aileron

Vintage Aviation News

JANUARY 22, 2025

In October 1914, Albree and Timson drew up plans for a new monoplane, the Model G Scout, which was first flown by test pilot Clifford Webster on July 15, 1915, at Nahant Beach, just south of the Swampscott garage. The Albree-Timson Model G Scout monoplane, a precursor of the Model SG Pursuit, during a test flight at Nahant Beach, MA. (Old

Tail

AV Web

APRIL 15, 2025

Student pilots get a free pass, because theyre adorable skittering off runways in Loss of Directional Control (LODC) events that vex the best among us. But assumptions spiraled for this private pilot in a 1953 Bell 47D helicopter (think M.A.S.H) No mention if the Cessna pilot noticed. at Marana, Arizona, on 2021s first day.

Pilot

Aerotime

NOVEMBER 22, 2024

At this point, the pilots will contact ATC for push and start clearance , allowing the plane to be pushed back from its parking position (if applicable, depending on the airport) and to start its engines in sequence. Once this message is conveyed to the pilots, they disengage the aircraft’s parking brake, hence the ‘ wobble ’.

Cabin Crew

Northstar VFR

JULY 21, 2024

It’s a rite of passage for pilots-in-training to hear these words come from their flight instructor repeatedly. The pilot can control the yawing of the plane by inputs on the rudder pedals. The rudder is a movable flight control which is mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer on the back of the airplane.

Rudder

Flying Magazine

APRIL 26, 2024

The small aileron “tabs” were not doing a great job in crosswind ability. I imagine this is how a real CRJ pilot must feel. I imagine MD80-style pilots are used to the same sensation. Older jets without winglets or shorter wingspans are much faster in roll and lack some stability in bank. There was no inherent stability.

Crosswind

Pilot's Life Blog

MARCH 15, 2024

One of the first things an aspiring pilot learns in flight school is the various sections of an aircraft. If you’re wondering how to become a commercial pilot in Arizona , this in-depth guide to important aircraft parts will help in your pursuit. All of these primary control surfaces serve as a horizontal stabilizer for the plane.

Horizontal Stabilizer

Flight Training Central

MARCH 29, 2024

The FAA continues to add new questions based on guidance from the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards. What are the reporting requirements for a pilot convicted of possessing and selling marijuana? Aileron down on the upwind wing Aileron up on the upwind wing Aileron up on the downwind wing Correct!

Aileron

Pilot's Life Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Many aspiring pilots wonder whether flying a helicopter is harder than flying a plane. Understanding these differences helps pilots choose the right training path. Whether youre exploring what is an instrument proficiency check or considering advanced training, we ensure every pilot is confident in their journey.

Torque

Vintage Aviation News

DECEMBER 15, 2024

Head on view of the Northrop X-4 Bantam (NASA) The X-4 was a research aircraft developed by the Northrop Corporation to test the stability of semi-tailless wing designs at transonic speeds in excess of Mach 0.9. Among the Air Force test pilots to fly X-4 46-677 in the summer of 1950 were Chuck Yeager, Frank Kendall Everest, Jr.,

Stability

Flying Magazine

MAY 15, 2024

Piper’s Cherokee Six appeals to pilots for some of the same reasons that other Cherokee models are popular, including stability, predictable handling, and reliability. Additional equipment includes electric pitch trim, rudder trim, Flightcom six-place intercom, cabin ventilation fan, auxiliary power receptacle, and aileron gap seals.

Aileron

Vintage Aviation News

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

In order to shorten development time and save costs, the aircraft featured components of two closely related aircraft of the Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas: the wings, ailerons, and landing gear of aBeech Bonanza general aviation aircraft and the tail assemblyof a Beech T-34 Mentor military trainer.

Thrust

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. Once committed to the landing, the pilot should gently lower the nose-wheel to the surface.

Approach

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Sometimes it’s emotional—the Beech Starship, what few of them are still in the wild, inevitably wow viewers of both the pilot and nonpilot persuasion. Sure, there are the removable wings and an unusual-for-an-RV stabilator out back for pitch control, but there’s nothing revolutionary in the concepts or execution. But successful?

Airplanes

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 19, 2024

This was a troubling combination for any pilot, let alone those operating from the confined and unforgiving environment of an aircraft carrier deck. The modifications included replacing the single fin and rudder with a twin-tail design to improve stability. The aircraft was difficult to control and suffered from severe vibrations.

Weight-Shift-Control

Pilot Institute

MARCH 29, 2024

Key Takeaways Slow flight trains pilots to handle the aircraft at speeds just above stalling. That’s why it’s crucial for pilots to learn aircraft control at low speeds. Additionally, both private and commercial pilot checkrides require the demonstration of slow flight. Pilots use reference stalling speeds instead.

Lift

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

Even the best of pilots can mess up sometimes. But for new pilots, it can be tough to figure out where it all went wrong. The easiest way to achieve this is by flying a stabilized approach. So, what is a stabilized approach? You can find them in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) or the owner’s manual.

Descent

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Landing an airplane can be one of the most nerve-wracking tasks for a student pilot. As a pilot, you will need time to master it. A pilot must consider several things before landing. Brief that you will use the right rudder to align the aircraft straight with the runway and the left aileron to counteract drift.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

Even if it’s possible to complete the training course in a reasonable time with these stipulations, the product of a bubble-wrapped curriculum is a half-trained pilot. The peppering of rain on the windshield, the darkening of thick clouds, or the battering of wind shear all deliver a clear message that some piloting is now required.

Wind Shear