Flight Training Central

JUNE 9, 2025

Calculating the airplane’s weight and balance is a mandatory task you must complete before every flight. Many of an airplane’s performance, handling, and structural characteristics are a function of weight and balance, not to mention the safety risks associated with operating an overloaded or out-of-balance airplane.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

JULY 9, 2025

Piloted by Sonex advisory board member Joe Norris, the flight was conducted in the evening and kept short due to an issue with the passenger-side door latch. Even without the wings or engine affixed to the airplane, potential customers were still able to sit in it and try it on for size while improvements were being made.

Gross Weight

Flying Magazine

MAY 17, 2025

Here youll see how creative errors can sneak in and deprive pilots of the fuel that keeps us airborne. Flight Planning A pilot encountered 32-35 knot headwinds at cruise. After a review, the airplanes fuel capacity was less than the expected 40 at 35-37 gallons, and the fuel gauge was too optimistic. He landed safely.

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

APRIL 1, 2025

Airplane ready. Pilot ready? At 500 feet down the runway, the little airplane leaped into the air despite my plan to build more speed before taking off. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and every sense was tuned to the heartbeat of the small new airplane. First flight in a new airplane. First flight!

Runway

Flying Magazine

JULY 23, 2025

Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. A machine like this one presents an opportunity for pilots to venture beyond their usual comfort zones and connect with the adventure-flying community.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

DECEMBER 30, 2024

A kit-built airplane derived from the 1950s-era Starduster, the Starduster Too incorporates a steel-tube fuselage and wooden wings, all covered in fabric. With a gross weight of 1,700 lbs and an empty weight of 1,175 lbs, this particular Starduster has a useful load of 529 lbs.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 13, 2025

The two largest member organizations—the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)—sent their top leader to join Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) president and chairman Scott Severen on stage before a full audience. The subject: MOSAIC.

Knot

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. How did any given airplane sell? However, the airplane must be completed in a way that it conforms exactly to the SLSA example, of which there must be one for an ELSA to exist.

Airplanes

Plane and Pilot

MAY 3, 2025

Airplanes like the Piper Cherokee probably dont get their due. Ask a stranger to think of a small GA airplane, and theyll probably conjure something like a Cub. 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.

Approach

Plane and Pilot

JUNE 26, 2025

Many of you may know Johnson from his monthly Plane & Pilot columns and website, bydanjohnson.com , a popular light sport resource that will soon be integrated into the P&P website. I’ll start introducing you to everyone I know, and we’ll have them teach you a little bit about each of these airplanes.”

Aileron

Plane and Pilot

MAY 12, 2025

If asked to name one GA single-engine airplane that claims the roles of ultimate bushplane , STOL champion, military workhorse, movie star, arctic explorer, and even a little CIA intrigue thrown in for effect, the de Havilland Beaver comes immediately to mind. This is an airplane that means business. Air Force and Army.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

APRIL 25, 2025

Its safe to say that, at one time or another, every single general aviation pilot has dreamed of owning and flying their own warbird. From fire-breathing P-51 Mustangs to T-6 Texans and more obscure types, the entire category attracts pilots of all types. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

Gross Weight

Air Facts

MAY 7, 2025

One of the companies that had acquired surplus Beech 18s had secured a long term contract to carry auto parts from Oshawa to Detroit for General Motors and almost every night around 9 pm, one of those flights would head west full of parts and usually with only the one pilot on board. Such it was in those days.

Weight-Shift-Control

Plane and Pilot

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

These tools help the pilots deal with this busy section of the flight replete with numerous checklists, changing clearances, and traffic. We have some of the same checklists, clearances, and traffic, and we have one less pilot to get them all done. Back down here is GA land, we have many of the same concerns. Image: Shutterstock.

Descent

AV Web

JULY 1, 2025

Senior pilots (many were career professionals stepping down into GA) liked what they saw in the new LSA market: modern two-placers with far more tech than the average Skyhawk or Cherokee—not bad machines for golden-years fun. Today, the difficult insurance market is forcing plenty of aging pilots out of retracs , twins and turbines.

Gross Weight

Flying Magazine

JULY 15, 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. The Bonanza’s G1000 MFD includes real-time engine data information, and pilots can track lean-of-peak performance and follow engine trends directly on the screen.

Gross Weight

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 2, 2025

In 1954 this photo of two swept wing airplanes was taken on the ramp of NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. The drag chute was used on landings to help brake the airplane’s speed. The average gross weight was 115,000 pounds. Pilots are Joe Walker on the viewer’s left and Stanley Butchart on the right.

Gross Weight

Air Facts

JULY 9, 2025

Mea Culpa: Confessions of a Joyful Pilot Air Facts Journal I have a confession to make. Should I treat every VFR hop like I’m departing into low IMC with a 10,000-foot density altitude at max gross weight? I do weight and balance calculations when appropriate. Find a simple airplane. Do a solid preflight.

Pilot

Aerotime

MARCH 20, 2025

The wreckage of the airplane was found two days after the crash in which all nine passengers and the sole pilot lost their lives. The controller suggested to the pilot of flight 445 that he slow his aircraft down to minimize the delay in landing once overhead Nome. At about 15:15, the airplane leveled at 6,000 ft.

Knot

Flying Magazine

JULY 23, 2025

READ MORE: We Fly: CubCrafters NXCub According to ERP, a second airplane will soon be made available, and both will be crated and shipped to Namibia and put into service. As a general aviation pilot, I’m delighted about the role these Cubs will play in protecting endangered elephants and rhinos in Africa.”

Gross Weight

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. CubCrafters said its goal was to build an airplane with a 1,000-pound useful load. That got our attention.

Gross Weight

Flying Magazine

JUNE 27, 2025

For pilots seeking a fun, nimble aircraft that delivers efficient performance with classic tailwheel handling, this Sonex TD deserves a close look. The airframe weighs in at 623 pounds empty with a gross weight of 1,150 pounds, offering a useful load of 527 pounds—plenty of room for pilot, passenger, and fuel.

Gross Weight

Vintage Aviation News

JUNE 18, 2025

In the world of aviation, Howard Hughes is known for such films as Hell’s Angels and Jet Pilot, the H-4 Hercules flying boat (better known by its derisive nickname, the “Spruce Goose”), helicopters such as the OH-6 Cayuse, and spacecraft such as the Surveyor landers and the Magellan satellite.

Cockpit

Flying Magazine

MAY 2, 2025

Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. Pilots have long rated the A36 Bonanza the best aircraft for the typical range of cross-country missions flown by families and business people.

Gross Weight

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 5, 2025

gross weight. ” In all, 262 Air Corps pilots were selected, none from the Corps training schools, and most had scant few hours logged in flying time (up to 4 hours per day) and even less in darkness or poor weather, and flying obsolete aircraft. 60 Air Corps pilots took the oath as postal employees. .”

Gross Weight

Flying Magazine

JULY 11, 2025

For this year’s Ultimate Issue, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone into an airplane worthy of the Ultimate title. The DC-6 sits tall on its landing gear to accommodate the three-bladed propellers, but the airplane has a balanced and proportional appearance. One can dream and prepare, right?

Flight Deck

AV Web

JULY 25, 2025

Absence from the big carnival in cheese-land is not a big deal for many pilots. I missed the show for quite a few years when I was an airline pilot because the last thing I wanted to do during my vacation from flying a thousand hours a year in airplanes was to hang around airplanes.

Gross Weight

Flight Training Central

MAY 7, 2024

As much as it seems sometimes that airplanes fly by magic, it’s important for every pilot to understand at least the basic fundamentals of aerodynamics. Understanding these concepts will create a smoother and safer pilot. airplane's center line and the relative wind. What force makes an airplane turn?

Longitudinal Axis

Flight Training Central

MARCH 11, 2024

Calculating the airplane’s weight and balance is a mandatory task you must complete before every flight. Many of an airplane’s performance, handling, and structural characteristics are a function of weight and balance, not to mention the safety risks associated with operating an overloaded or out-of-balance airplane.

Airplanes

Air Facts

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

The many analyses and videos on these topics have been done in what can best be described as laboratory conditions—carefully selected ideal conditions of pilot, airplane, and environment. None of these achieved enough altitude to have permitted a successful impossible turn, but there were pilots who tried, anyway.

Gross Weight

Vintage Aviation News

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

Thousands of L-4s remained in the US for the duration of WWII, training pilots and serving liaison duties for Army units in training. The surviving examples did find use in the post-war era, training thousands of pilots in the former European and Pacific theaters. 1,801 of that number were L-4H variants. That is the case with 44-79780.

Firewall

Flying Magazine

MAY 10, 2024

With a better understanding of the structure of the test, the material the exam covers, and some sample questions, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a commercial drone pilot. Courses like those offered by Altitude University , The Pilot Institute and ASA , for instance, include several graded practice exams and quizzes.

Weight-Shift-Control

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 15, 2024

During this same half-century, Willard Custer was developing an airplane with a unique wing design that carried six passengers and crew, could be constructed economically, and take off and land much like a helicopter. For the last 100 years or so, pilots and engineers have argued about why aircraft actually fly. A hard landing ensued.

Gross Weight

Plane and Pilot

MAY 15, 2025

Purchasing a used airplane can be risky because its sometimes difficult to determine whether the aircraft has been taken care of properly. The SD variant cant make light sport limits as it has a third seat and a 1,900-pound gross weight. And since people are different, youll have different airplanes. Even riskier.

Gross Weight

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. How did any given airplane sell? However, the airplane must be completed in a way that it conforms exactly to the SLSA example, of which there must be one for an ELSA to exist.

Airplanes

Northstar VFR

JUNE 22, 2023

Most pilots see it as a barrier to them and the sky. This walk around is what a lot of pilots consider as the only facet of the preflight. While the integrity of the aircraft is extremely vital to the flight, a vast majority of pilots overlook other tasks that should be a part of a good preflight. It states, “.other

Gross Weight

Vintage Aviation News

JANUARY 6, 2025

Born in 1899, James Smith McDonnell had attended college at Princeton and MIT and gained experience as an aeronautical engineer in the nascent American aviation industry with companies such as the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company, the Hamilton Metalplane Company, the Huff Daland Airplane Company, and the Glenn L.

Gross Weight