Pilot Institute

DECEMBER 31, 2024

Have you ever thought about landing an airplane without using flaps? Think about these scenarios: maybe the flaps stop working, or youre flying an older airplane that doesnt even have them. Pilots must adapt their approach and landing technique during flap failure. Flatter approach angle (due to less drag).

Pilot

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) can, at times, feel like deciphering a complicated puzzle, especially when you’re staring at an approach chart filled with intricate details. Approach charts, often referred to as approach plates, become your guide when visual cues are scarce. What Is an IFR Approach Chart?

Approach

AV Web

MAY 6, 2025

Operations below minimums on an instrument approach can be quite simple if the ceilings and visibilities are significantly above minimums. Lets take a deep dive into what it takes to get an airplane on the ground after a successful instrument approach. Another way to tell the distance is by using the approach lights.

Runway

Flight Training Central

MAY 13, 2025

Apply carb heat if applicable, establish a descent airspeed (defer setting flaps until the base leg). Reduce your power, and set flaps to full to establish a maximum descent rate. Apply carb heat if applicable, reduce your power, set the flaps to their first setting, and establish your descent airspeed of 1.4

Approach

Plane and Pilot

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

We often hear that the key to a great landing is an equally great approach. And lets face it, the key to that flawless approach is often a well-planned descent. In the airline world, descent planning and execution receives a lot of attention. Like so much of aviation, there are several ways to skin this descent cat.

Descent

Flying Magazine

JULY 22, 2025

However, as Epic CEO Doug King told FLYING , the airplane was originally designed to be a big-engine, high-performance machine, unlike many manufacturers that start small and progressively add power. We note that the airplane we flew, the first AX off the line, equipped with nearly every option, had a useful load of 2,918 pounds.

Rudder

Plane and Pilot

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Flight controls mean ailerons, elevator, and rudder, of course, but on some airplanes, if the trim is mis-set, the plane might be difficult or impossible to control. That flap retraction was not performed, and although the airplane made it into the air, it did not maintain sustained flight. Your airplane may be different.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

MARCH 10, 2025

Any airplane developed since the early 1950s needing around 160 hp was probably penned with this engine in mindor its slightly larger but fundamentally similar O-360. Specifically, Rotaxs approach to putting 160 hp to the prop flange is fundamentally different from Lycomings. And what Rotax doesnt want to buy, it can create in house.

Descent

Fear of Landing

MARCH 21, 2025

Close up of the chart, showing the airport to the left, with Route 1 coming from the top and Route 4 leading to the bottom The FAA’s Helicopter Route Chart shows clearly that a helicopter following Route 4 would cross the approach path for runway 33. An aircraft descending on a 3 slope would pass this point at 300 feet.

Runway

Air Facts

MAY 5, 2025

Flying a single engine airplane, under IFR, in the clouds, in a non-radar environment and without an autopilot, adds a great deal to the pilots work load. With three airplanes, we departed Springfield for Fairfield, Iowa to compete in an NIFA competition against five other schools. This was the situation on Friday, December 1, 1972.

VOR

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 2, 2024

Key Takeaways Power-off stalls mimic a stall during the flight’s approach and landing phase. On final approach, it can be the difference between recovering and crashing. We practice power-off stalls to help us identify the signs of a stall and the characteristics of your airplane when it stalls. Why should this matter to you?

Descent

Cranky Flier

APRIL 22, 2025

It’s an airline with an airplane and it gets you places. But then, a few minutes before our descent, the show began. The winds were gusting, and we could feel it on approach, but it was a nice and firm touchdown right on the numbers. I walked off the airplane, went to my car, and headed home. ” Uh huh.

Descent

Northstar VFR

MAY 26, 2025

Flaps are movable surfaces on the trailing edge of an airplanes wings that can be extended downward to change the shape of the wing during flight. When deployed, they increase the wings lift and drag, allowing the airplane to fly safely at slower speeds. At the same time, flaps create extra drag, which helps slow the airplane down.

Camber

Flying Magazine

JULY 3, 2025

As late afternoon approached, I was expecting a call about what hotel we would be in that night. I fully expected the gauge to fix itself before we landed because that is what old airplanes frequently do (this airframe was about 42 years young). ForeFlight indicated we could reach there with a 900 fpm descent rate.

Knot

Flying Magazine

JULY 18, 2025

This means buying the airplane right so there’s money—lots of it— left in the budget for major panel upgrades. Still, the market for avionics systems for turbine airplanes is dominated by Garmin, which earns regulatory approval at impressive rates. Now everything has gone to LCD,” Brown said.

Flight Deck

Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

From basic turns to emergency descents, every maneuver shapes how a student reacts under pressure and handles real-world flying. Turns: Students practice shallow, medium, and steep turns to develop a feel for how the airplane behaves when banking. Controlled, safe descent techniques protect the pilot and passengers.

Pilot

Pilot Institute

JULY 4, 2025

When the time of closest approach falls below certain levels, TCAS issues alerts. The areas marked red on the VSI show climb or descent rates that can put you on a collision course. Green markings show the climb or safe climb, or descent rates. The “X” signifies this is a new approach and isn’t just an iteration of TCAS II.

Transponder

iPad Pilot News

MARCH 11, 2025

AGL (or when AGL is unknown), the descent rate exceeds 4,000 ft. AGL and the descent rate exceeds 3,000 ft. AGL, the descent rate is between 3000 ft. Runway Final Approach Alert – Alerts when approaching any runway, based on altitude, vertical speed, track, and when within 4 nm of the runway threshold.

AGL

One Mile at a Time

APRIL 2, 2025

View enroute to Washington Dulles Austrian business class pre-landing snack Upon waking up, I first ordered an americano, which was served in a Julius Meinl branded mug, and was pretty great for airplane coffee. He warned of some turbulence on approach, and of strong winds at Washington Dulles, which were gusting up to 30 knots.

Approach

Plane and Pilot

APRIL 11, 2025

The feel of the airplane, amount of wind and engine noise, and the G-force sensations all can lead to sensory overload. You learn the sound of the slipstream passing by the not-quite-sealed window at the correct approach speed. Some airplanes have a notable pop on descent at very low power. It all starts to make sense.

Airplanes

Photographic Logbook

MAY 25, 2025

As I dutifully toed the line that was my instrument clearance, my benefactor at Rochester Approach looked out for me until the handoff to Buffalo Approach roughly halfway between the two cities. Frederick Douglass / Greater Rochester International Airport. Two(ish) mile final for runway 27L at Oakland County International.

OAT

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 23, 2025

Moments later, the airplane crashed. The Bonanza lay crumpled up in an empty lot just 2,400 feet from the approach end of the runway. After a shallow turn from downwind, the Bonanza was positioned on base at a proper altitude and airspeed and with a constant descent rate. All three occupants were killed on impact.

True Airspeed

Inflight Pilot Training

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

This regimented approach can be beneficial for students pursuing aviation as a full-time career, as it is often designed to meet airline and professional pilot training standards. For a deeper understanding of stall behavior and recovery techniques, the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook provides an excellent resource.

Aileron

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 16, 2024

A positive reading means you’re climbing, while a negative one indicates descent. Airspeed and VSI: When you adjust airspeed, your rate of climb or descent may also change. Then, check the altimeter to confirm that you’re holding your altitude, or approaching the altitude you want. In a climb or descent, this is just as true.

True Airspeed

Fear of Landing

JUNE 27, 2025

They said that they had looked left and right before entering but did not see the Boeing 738 on final approach. The report cites the excessive descent rate as a critical factor, as the Bombardier CRJ 900 was descending at 1,110 feet per minute on touchdown, almost double the landing gear’s design limit of 720 feet per minute.

Descent

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 15, 2025

Velocity Andrews, North Carolina/Injuries: 1 Fatal NTSB Report: ERA23FA194 The owner recently purchased the experimental amateur-built, modified airplane. He did not have a lot of experience in the make and model airplane, so he hired the accident pilot to conduct the first flight since recent modifications.

Instrument Meteorological Conditions

Flying Magazine

JUNE 20, 2025

According to the report and previously acquired ADS-B data, the pilot was attempting an instrument approach in thick fog and flew below the published glideslope. The pilot was in contact with the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (SOCAL TRACON) controller while at 17,000 ft mean sea level (msl). local time.

Knot

Pilot Institute

APRIL 23, 2025

Landing Gear Operating Speed (VLO) Explained Youre on the final approach. Now its time to extend the landing gear and complete your final approach checklist. Having a structured approach to your descent and landing procedures is another helpful strategy. Lets take a closer look at how this works in the context of VLO.

Final Approach

Pilot Institute

APRIL 12, 2025

Application of Newton’s Third Law in Aviation When we talk about airplanes, we focus primarily on two forces: Lift (how the aircraft stays aloft). So, an airplane with a propeller or jet doesnt need to push on stationary air molecules in the atmosphere; it simply grabs and throws whichever air molecules are available backward.

Torque

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Or how do modern airplanes reduce dangerous effects like aileron flutter or adverse yaw? Unstable aircraft designs are better suited for high-maneuverability aircraft like aerobatic stunt airplanes or military fighters. The resulting loss of lift leads to a rapid descent by the aircraft. This is called having a wing drop.

Aileron

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 15, 2025

Detecting them is difficult, which makes final approach and landing especially dangerous. In seconds, an aircraft can be forced into an uncontrollable descent, leaving you with barely any time to react. When you fly into a microburst on approach or departure, youll first encounter a strong headwind, which will give you a brief lift.

Wind Shear

One Mile at a Time

MARCH 24, 2025

Note that there was the option of having the salad either before or after the main, and I went with the more traditional French approach. At 9:50AM we began our descent, and 15 minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned on. The views on approach were gorgeous, as it was an uncharacteristically nice winter morning over France.

Approach

Cranky Flier

JULY 31, 2025

” We pushed off the dock late since they had other airplanes get out first, but we didn’t have to taxi long before lurching forward toward the north and into the sky, making a quick turn left to head out to Puget Sound. It was a pretty exciting approach that saw us touch down in the water in a narrow point.

Runway

Flying Magazine

JULY 31, 2025

Every day, the team at Aircraft For Sale chooses an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, a good deal, or has other qualities we find interesting. Dual WAAS GPS, comm, and nav radios support IFR operations, with an enhanced GFC700 autopilot enabling fully coupled approaches and holds.

Descent

One Mile at a Time

JANUARY 24, 2025

Emirates business class dinner service Emirates takes a somewhat unconventional approach to the meal service on this flight. Its not often you can get a dirty martini on an airplane, though thats absolutely possible at the Emirates A380 bar. We had a smooth climb out, and then five minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned off.

Jet

One Mile at a Time

MARCH 6, 2025

Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite business class map Cathay Pacific 777 Aria Suite business class map Im a horrible airplane sleeper, so the fact that I got roughly six hours of sleep is a testament to how comfortable the bed is. If this could be done correctly, it would be one of my favorite airplane breakfast options Ive seen.

Airlines

One Mile at a Time

MAY 12, 2025

ANA takes a unique approach to its A380s, as the airline has three of these, referred to as the Flying Honu. It always amazes me how well airlines can serve some complex Japanese dishes on airplanes. ANA first class service touch ANA A380 arrival in Honolulu Before I knew it, we were already starting our descent to Honolulu.

Tail