Flying Magazine

JUNE 23, 2025

I’ll start with a confession: I have never ditched an airplane. I don’t have any plans to ditch an airplane. But pilots like to be prepared for whatever might happen, so some theory is important. The pilot and one passenger suffered minor injuries; another passenger was uninjured. But notice: the airplane floated.

Pilot

Flight Training Central

MARCH 3, 2025

A wing will always stall at the same angle of attack; however, weight, and bank angle, power setting and load factor may change the speed or the pitch attitude at which the airplane stalls. Also, the weight in the airplane must be properly distributed and balanced. The test standards divide stalls into power off and power on.

Rudder

Plane and Pilot

MARCH 25, 2025

I dont exactly fit the standard pilot profile of Game Aerospaces GB1 GameBird But theres always been something about the GameBird that has piqued my interest. Its first-class team, led by Ian Waghorn, ensures that pilots leave the training program feeling confident, competent, and safe in their new or new-to-them GameBird.

Knot

Flying Magazine

MAY 5, 2025

A type club is a collection of owners and supporters of a specific type of airplane organized to share make- and model-specific technical information and hints for owning and flying the aircraft. Many airplanes are very weight limited with full fuel, for instance. For example, will the type support my intended use?

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

MAY 19, 2025

Just after departing from Runway 5, the pilot announced on the airports common traffic advisory frequency that the engine was running rough and he was returning to the airport. Another pilot flying in the airport traffic pattern reported that the accident airplane appeared too high and fast to land on Runway 23.

Rudder

Northstar VFR

MARCH 16, 2025

By Josh Page, CFI Ever heard your flight instructor say, More right rudder? One of the fundamental aerodynamic concepts in aviation isleft-turning tendenciesthe natural forces that cause an airplane to yaw or roll left, particularly in a single-engine, propeller-driven aircraft. Right rudder is your best friend.

Airplanes

Pilot Institute

JUNE 4, 2025

Have you ever seen an airplane with no tail and no vertical fin, but with just a sleek wing? A tailless aircraft is a fixed-wing airplane without a horizontal stabilizing surface. A tailless aircraft may still have a fuselage and a vertical tail (fin and rudder). The rudder allows you to make controlled yaw movements.

Tail

Flying Magazine

JUNE 25, 2025

Answer: The demonstrated crosswind component is the maximum velocity of the crosswind component that was experienced during the certification tests, and the pilots were still able to maintain adequate control of the aircraft. ” The aircraft, depending on pilot technique, could be more.

Crosswind

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

Vintage Aviation News

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

With just sixteen airworthy examples, the Douglas A-26 Invader is not the most numerous warbird out there, which means qualified pilots are equally rare. However, among that small cadre, there is one pilot, Stephen Swift, who has four (approximately 38% of the population) of the world’s flying Invaders in his logbook. Imagine that.

Airplanes

Flying Magazine

JUNE 4, 2025

Before a student pilot can legally fly solo, they must be able to demonstrate not just control of the airplane but command of the environment around it. An EFB is, according to FAA Advisory Circular 91-78 , any portable electronic device used to display charts, documents, or other materials typically found in a pilots flight bag.

Pilot

Northstar VFR

DECEMBER 22, 2024

By Josh Page, CFI The private pilot practical test is the finish line to getting your private pilot certificate and being able to fly as a licensed pilot. Lets look at four common private pilot oral exam questions and see how you can ace them! So how do you recover from a spin? So how do you recover from a spin?

Pilot

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. Years ago, a very young pilot took her first passenger, her husband, on her first flight after getting a private certificate after 125 hours.

Airplanes

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

Many sim pilots also purchase dedicated peripherals to control the rudder and engines. Never before have sim pilots seen the world portrayed with such stunning accuracy. For the first time, sim pilots can navigate visually using real-world landmarks. .” A joystick is the most straightforward flight controller.

Rudder

Flying Magazine

MAY 2, 2025

The preliminary report on the accident that killed aerobatic pilot Rob Holland has been released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Pilot Rob Holland (pictured here in 2015) made history by winning for the seventh consecutive year at the U.S. Scott Slocum The airplane had been modified for aerobatics.

Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC)

AV Web

JANUARY 19, 2025

My mission was to bring a box of hot coffee from a popular donut joint and another pilot friend, Henry, to help Tom change the oil on his 7ac Champ. This hangar has more wintertime pilot bull sessions per square inch than any other in the tri-state area. Tom is one of the lucky few around here who has an insulated and heated hangar.

Rudder

Flying Magazine

MAY 13, 2025

Remember trying to drive the airplane on the ground with the yoke the first time you attempted to taxi it? READ MORE: Student Pilots Must Be Ready to Learn The opposite of this is positive transference, when a previously learned skill supports one you are learning by reinforcing useful habits and knowledge.

Rudder

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. left aileron, right rudder). How to Perform: Enter a turn (e.g., 65 knots in a Cessna 172).

Aileron

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

AV Web

JUNE 29, 2025

Note: We don’t normally run “youngest pilot” stories but given the background and experience of Sullivan Vande Voort we bent the rules in this case. Vande Voort is a third-generation pilot who started logging flight at age 6 when he could finally reach the rudder pedals. Submitted by Shane Vande Voort Ed.

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

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

Plane and Pilot

MARCH 3, 2025

As the price for typical entry-level airplanes climbs ever higher and the supply of affordable types dwindles with time, its becoming increasingly difficult to find examples priced below $30,000. In most cases, airplanes in this range require some attention to be brought up to snuff, both mechanically and visually.

Rudder

Flying Magazine

APRIL 29, 2025

READ MORE: Dont Forget: Flight Instruction Is a Business Prior to takeoff, brief the customer on the positive exchange of controls and advise that two hands on the yoke in a small airplane is not necessary and is only found in bad TV movies. I see an airplane doesnt help unless we know where it is in relation to our aircraft.

Weather

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

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

APRIL 1, 2025

Airplane ready. Pilot ready? Feet on rudder pedals. 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.

Runway

Plane and Pilot

DECEMBER 30, 2024

What stupid airplane antics have I recently participated in that would warrant the query? My name is Andrew, and I used to fly that airplane in the early 2000s. Its a great airplane. Both of us had neighbors who owned airplanes and took us flying when we were not yet teens. I find myself staring at the phone in disbelief.

Airplanes

Vintage Aviation News

JANUARY 5, 2025

Designed to be a training aircraft for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the Sage Type 3 reveals the story of how a department store outfitter mobilized to build airplanes for the Royal Navy during WWI. The company that would build the Sage Type 3 had existed even before the invention of the airplane.

Weight-Shift-Control

Pilot's Life Blog

JUNE 18, 2025

Turns: Students practice shallow, medium, and steep turns to develop a feel for how the airplane behaves when banking. This develops an understanding of how the airplane reacts at low speeds, a critical skill for safe takeoffs and landings. Controlled, safe descent techniques protect the pilot and passengers.

Pilot

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. It starts with three 14-inch displays—pilot and copilot PFDs, plus an MFD.

Flight Deck

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 19, 2025

Rudder Work and Component Fabrication Progress has also been made on the aircrafts rudders. The number one (left) rudder is nearly complete. Weve had it hanging on the airplane already and weve taken it off. If all goes according to plan, the stabilizer may be installed ahead of WWII Weekend in June.

Horizontal Stabilizer

Pilot Institute

MARCH 24, 2025

Once the airplane has reached a point where it nearly stalls or loses lift, youll initiate a pivot or turn. How to Execute a Stall Turn To execute a stall turn, the pilot enters a vertical climb with full power, which will cause the airspeed to drop. The stall turn consists of three main parts.

Rudder

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

Northstar VFR

JUNE 8, 2025

Unusual attitudes are so dangerous because it doesn’t take long for the pilot to become disoriented, making the problem worse, and getting the plane into one or more of these upset conditions. Mechanical Factors Mechanical failures : Airplanes in general are very reliable, and major malfunctions are the minority.

Turbulence

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Have you ever wondered how pilots keep control at high speeds, during stalls, or even when systems fail? Or how do modern airplanes reduce dangerous effects like aileron flutter or adverse yaw? Adverse yaw is a side effect of aileron use, countered by rudder input. They work by deflecting airflow at the wings trailing edge.

Aileron

Vintage Aviation News

APRIL 25, 2025

The aircraft is even still operational to some degree, as pneumatic and air pressure systems in place of the hydraulic system still actuate the 727’s landing gear, flaps, slats, rudder, elevators, and right aileron! Flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit, the single engine aircraft could carry two passengers and up to 1,200 lbs.

Cockpit