Air Facts

MARCH 5, 2025

Teaching International Student Pilots Air Facts Journal In the mid 70s, I was a USAF T-38 instructor pilot (IP) in the 71 st Flying Training Wing at Vance AFB (KEND) in Enid, Oklahoma. Two squadrons trained students in their journey to become Air Force pilots. add 5 knots for winds at 10 knots gusting to 20 knots).

Pilot

Pilot Institute

JULY 11, 2025

Why do jet pilots talk about speed in terms of Mach number? Why don’t they use Indicated Airspeed just like the pilots who fly slower aircraft? Pilots switch to Mach number at high altitudes to avoid inaccuracies in IAS due to compressibility effects. Here, Mach 1 is roughly 573 knots (about 659 mph). Here’s why.

True Airspeed

Flying Magazine

MAY 1, 2025

In training airplanes such as the Cessna 172, you will find a notation of the “demonstrated crosswind” with the caveat “not a limitation.” ” To get this information the aircraft manufacturers put their airplanes into crosswind conditions to see that it can handle them.

Crosswind

AV Web

MARCH 20, 2025

According to the pilot operating handbook, the maximum permissible takeoff weight for such conditions was the same as the basic airplanes weight, 8,807 pounds. In the final communications with air traffic control, the pilot was informed to descend to 4,000 feet at his discretion.

Gross Weight

AV Web

JULY 22, 2025

Sport Pilots will be able to fly aircraft that have a clean stall speed of up to 59 knots, and aircraft in that category can stall as high as 61 knots with flaps down, under new rules issued by the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a public ceremony at AirVenture on Tuesday.

Pilot

Flying Magazine

JUNE 25, 2025

I just started flight training, and the flight school aircraft have placards that read “maximum demonstrated crosswind velocity 15 knots.” ” Does that mean I can’t fly when the winds are above 15 knots? ” The aircraft, depending on pilot technique, could be more.

Crosswind

Pilot Institute

JANUARY 3, 2025

Have you ever wondered how pilots determine wind direction and speed at a glance? Standard FAA aviation windsocks are calibrated to fully extend at a wind speed of 15 knots. A windsock is an essential aviation tool that helps pilots make safe decisions. How To Read a Windsock Hanging limp : Winds are under 3 knots.

Knot

Plane and Pilot

DECEMBER 19, 2024

Parts are plentiful, virtually every mechanic is familiar with the type, and the flying characteristics are docile enough for even brand-new pilots. The inclusion of wheel pants creates a finished, factory look while improving cruising speed by a few knots. For an entry-level or simply economical airplane, this 150 checks many boxes.

Knot

Pilot Institute

JUNE 9, 2025

Holding procedures often leave many prospective IFR pilots in a cold sweat. Today we will explain airplane holding patterns in detail, answer some common questions, and even teach you a few ‘hacks’ to make flying a hold a real breeze. Pilots use holds for traffic delays, weather, emergencies, planning, or runway changes.

Airplanes

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

JANUARY 12, 2025

Then, a few years ago, I was privileged to hear how an amazing young woman, Jessica Cox , earned her sport pilot certificate. The story of this unique airplane begins in the early 1930s with Fred Weick, an engineer for the National Advisory Committee for Aviation (NACA). The final chapter of the Ercoupe story began with great promise.

Rudder

Pilot Institute

DECEMBER 31, 2024

Have you ever thought about landing an airplane without using flaps? It might sound a bit scary, but its a valuable skill for a pilot to master. Think about these scenarios: maybe the flaps stop working, or youre flying an older airplane that doesnt even have them. Flatter approach angle (due to less drag).

Pilot

Pilot Institute

DECEMBER 12, 2024

” The answers come from a clever little setup on your airplane: a metal tube sticking into the airstream and a tiny hole on the fuselage. Pilots can use pitot heat or alternate static sources to handle blockages in-flight. It helps measure how fast the airplane is going by measuring the air pressure. Cool, right?

Pitot Tube

AV Web

APRIL 1, 2025

So any airplane that meets a set of performance parameters based on clean configuration stall speed. What has so far been agreed to by the FAA is 54 knots clean stall speed. Pleasance noted that MOSAIC will expand opportunities for pilots within his organization and beyond. We did in our comments ask to get that raised to 58.

Gross Weight

Flying Magazine

MAY 7, 2025

First published 45 years ago, Carsons essay became a point of reference for the wonkier class of pilot, to whose vocabulary it contributed a couple of novel phrases: Carson Speed and the least wasteful way of wasting. Carsons approach was mathematically elegant but assumed that time and fuel were of equal value to a hypothetical pilot.

True Airspeed

Plane and Pilot

MARCH 6, 2025

I felt knots forming in my stomach. The winds and rain caught up with the little craft as if a hand was reaching out grabbing control of the airplane. It was all I could do to keep the airplane straight. I spent time with the tie-down ropes and kept getting blown into the airplane as I worked to make sure they were tight.

Airplanes

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

Flying Magazine

JULY 3, 2025

I am an air ambulance pilot flying the venerable Lear 35 twinjet around the country, moving patients to critical and advanced care facilities. 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). Then I pull out the pilot checklist (QRH).

Knot

Flying Magazine

JUNE 3, 2025

We’re like, this is an all-electric airplane. And most people don’t believe you because sometimes they look at it, and they’re like, You came from hundreds of miles awaywhat do you mean that’s an electric airplane? According to Clark, the configuration makes for a really slippery, efficient airplane.

Air Traffic Control

Air Facts

APRIL 9, 2025

That new plan, when combined with the portable Starlink Mini hardware kit ($499), means pilots can finally have high speed internet access in flight, without large external antennas or prohibitively expensive monthly fees. If this anecdotal sample is any guide, pilots have noticed the news. The system is hardly perfect.

Weather

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. Pelton said EAA is pushing for an increase to 58 knots. “[If

Knot

Pilot Institute

JANUARY 13, 2025

When a pilot transitions from an aircraft with a fixed-pitch propeller to one with a constant-speed propeller, they need to get their head around the manifold pressure gauge, what it does, and how to use it. gallons per hour, and your cruise is 148 knots. gallons per hour, and your cruise speed has reduced by ten knots to 138.

Altimeter

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

Pilot Institute

MARCH 28, 2025

Pilots avoid vortices by maintaining safe separation and adjusting flight paths. When the aircraft encounters a vortex and its strong enough to induce roll, the pilot counters it by using the ailerons against the roll and tries to fly out of the wake as soon as possible. How Are Wingtip Vortices Formed? Mass and inertia also matter.

Turbulence

Flying Magazine

JUNE 23, 2025

It’s that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere—finally—when many pilots set their sights on flying to fun places offering short sleeve weather. I don’t recall what happened, but the airplane wasn’t flying off the island that afternoon. But that’s in addition to the other stuff you need to think about as a pilot.

Runway

Plane and Pilot

JULY 2, 2025

This is new territory for beginning pilots, who must be taught the right—and wrong—ways to manage ascent and descent. As with all airplane maneuvering, proper altitude changes are based on the foundational formula “power plus attitude equals performance.” The resulting drag increase slows climb rate.

Descent

Pilot Institute

MARCH 19, 2025

When flying an airplane, you become a part of the air around you. Pilots use METARs for flight safety, runway selection, and weather planning. The wind is from the south at 8 knots. The KT indicates that the scale used is knots (an abbreviated term for nautical miles per hour ). Pilots love knowing about the wind.

Weather

Plane and Pilot

JANUARY 18, 2025

For a certain segment of pilots looking to travel a certain distance, a fast, personal airplane can serve as a veritable time machine. And the rest of the airplane follows suit. While individual upgrades like these often return only a few knots each, they can collectively boost a stock airplanes cruise speed noticeably.

Transponder

Gary's Flight Journal

MAY 25, 2025

I opened up a post on the Pilot's Place forum that listed a Saturday lunch meet at the Cambridge Airport- KCGE. It was a bumpy ride with twenty knot headwinds all the way to Cambridge. The three of us enjoyed lunch and the airplane talk that followed. I was off at the one thousand foot markers and climbed away.

Pilot

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

FEBRUARY 6, 2025

Effectively discounted by a dated panel and high-time engine, this Cardinal RG flies well but enables the next owner to update it as their budget allows, ultimately ending up with an airplane worth far more than the $79,500 asking price of todays bargain. Complete logs provide additional peace of mind to the next buyer.

Airplanes

Pilot Institute

JANUARY 1, 2025

With the rise in the prevalence of drone flight, drone pilots are now at a stage where they are expected to operate within long-established aviation standards. To this end, drone pilots are expected to understand weather forecasts in the form of METAR and TAF reports. Key Takeaways METAR and TAF provide vital weather info for pilots.

AGL

CFI Academy

MARCH 28, 2025

For the FAA Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) Airplane Single Engine (ASE) checkride, the demonstration stalls are specific maneuvers that you, as a CFI candidate, must perform and explain to demonstrate your instructional knowledge and ability. How to Perform: Trim the airplane for a climb or approach speed (e.g.,

Aileron

Flying Magazine

JULY 18, 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. Pilots who want pressurized comfort without stepping into turbine territory will appreciate this well-kept 340A. Today’s Top Pick is a 1976 Cessna 340A.

True Airspeed

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 1, 2025

The student pilot may initially struggle to understand the functions of an E6B flight computer. But pilots around the globe rely on this indispensable gadget for charting their flights, crunching numbers to determine time in transit, fuel usage, and necessary adjustments for wind shifts. What Is an E6B and Why Do Pilots Use It?

Groundspeed

Air Facts

MAY 14, 2025

Throttle Mismanagement: A T-38 Lesson That Stuck Air Facts Journal An Air Force instructor teaches a powerful lesson on throttle finessein a jet that doesnt forgive overcorrections Have you ever been in a car or plane where the person driving or piloting is constantly adjusting the throttle? Youve got the airplane. Gusty winds?

AGL

AV Web

MAY 18, 2025

My pilot was one of Canada’s leading broadcast journalists. When I was finally hooked up for audio, the pilot was already doing his control check. He took the airplane back and, problem solved, we did a great interview and I enjoyed watching his segments, which became a regular part of his show. Noticeable?

Knot