Pilot Institute

MARCH 6, 2025

Drones have their own language, and its filled with abbreviations and acronyms that can be overwhelming for new drone pilots. Common Drone Acronyms and What They Mean Lets start off with the most basic acronyms that even beginner drone pilots should know. The effect is that the pilot feels like they are flying while inside the drone.

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Pilot Weather Air Traffic Control NOTAMs 52

Plane and Pilot

JULY 16, 2024

Becoming a private pilot is a challenging process and a big accomplishment. Student pilots go through many hours of flight and ground training to become proficient in the required skills and knowledge to ultimately earn their private pilot certificate. What Is the Private Pilot Knowledge Exam?

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Density Altitude Pilot Center of Gravity VOR 80

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 9, 2025

Center of Gravity: Used to calculate and balance the aircraft’s center of gravity. This issue aside, there is another reason why pilots, aircraft engineers, and designers talk about chord lines. Where its pivot point is, is called the center of gravity. What Is the Chord Line in Aviation?

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Center of Gravity Camber Lift Airfoil 59

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. For pilots who routinely flew with two or three passengers, the Cherokee 180s extra margins meant all the difference. Oregon pilot Randy Widell agrees.

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Approach Airplanes Stability Weight-Shift-Control 73

Pilot Institute

JUNE 4, 2025

The Weather Vane It mostly comes from the vertical stabilizer (fin) and the sides of the fuselage behind the center of gravity. The reflexed shape of the airfoil usually causes a positive (nose-up) pitching moment coefficient at its aerodynamic center. This also means resisting unwanted side-to-side nose movements.

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Tail Airplanes Weight-Shift-Control Drag 52

iPad Pilot News

MARCH 11, 2025

Heads-up, hands-free: How to use iPad audio alerts for safer flights iPad Pilot News The iPad is an engaging visual tool, but many pilots forget about its many audio uses. There’s even an alert for weight and balance when your center of gravity is out of limits. Here’s a rundown of what you might hear.

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AGL Runway Groundspeed Descent 52

Flight Training Central

MARCH 27, 2024

This week’s tip, from Sporty’s 2024 Learn to Fly Course , covers a topic that all pilots need to know: power-off stalls. Learn how to practice them the right way, and how the location of the center of gravity (CG) affects stall speed.

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Center of Gravity Pilot 52

Cranky Flier

APRIL 1, 2024

Boeing blamed the pilots for the accident, and it continued to do so after an Ethiopian MAX met the same fate in March of 2019. And when the MAX was designed, it needed more clearance for even bigger engines, so the engines were pushed forward and up in front of the wing, creating a problem with the center of gravity.

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Center of Gravity Airplanes Clearance Pilot 130

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.

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Weight-Shift-Control Air Traffic Control Aeronautical Decision-Making Density Altitude 116

Vintage Aviation News

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

(Wright State University) The original configuration of the Bell Model 68 was an open cockpit all-metal monoplane with fixed landing gear that was powered by two Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet engines with thrust deflectors located at the aircraft’s center of gravity. Fortunately, the pilot in this incident, Ronald M.

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Thrust Center of Gravity Descent Aileron 90

Airspeed Junkie

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

A Comprehensive Guide to Pilot Certificates and Ratings Looking to understand pilot certificates and ratings? This guide covers the types of FAA pilot certifications, what they allow you to do, and the steps to achieve them. The certifications include the Student Pilot Certificate and the Sport Pilot Certificate.

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Pilot Instrument Flight Rules Weather Center of Gravity 52

Learn to Fly

JULY 11, 2024

What can pilots do to prevent this? During your student pilot training you are taught to rely on speed and the 1G stall speed to avoid stalls. This happens regardless of weight, bank angle, temperature, density altitude, or center of gravity. Without an AOA indicator, the AOA is invisible to pilots.

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Airfoil Center of Gravity Density Altitude Drag 40

Pilot Institute

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Key Takeaways Dispatchers are often called pilots on the ground. Dispatchers are often considered “pilots on the ground” and play an important part in airlines. In smaller operations, the pilots plan the entire flight. In an airline environment, pilots have many responsibilities. What Does a Dispatcher Do?

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Weather Center of Gravity Federal Aviation Regulations Turbulence 52

iPad Pilot News

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Navigating ForeFlight Subscriptions: Which Plan is Right for Your Needs iPad Pilot News ForeFlight is a powerful mobile app designed to simplify flight planning and in-flight navigation for pilots. Beyond those essentials, Basic Plus includes some helpful add-ons (which a lot of pilots overlook).

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Weather Approach Pilot Gross Weight 52

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Have you ever wondered how pilots keep control at high speeds, during stalls, or even when systems fail? The pilot is able to control the aircrafts roll by turning the control yoke or sidestick in the cockpit. The hydraulic system works similarly to a cars power steering and greatly reduces the effort needed by the pilots.

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Aileron Weight-Shift-Control Rudder Longitudinal Axis 90

Pilot Institute

MARCH 26, 2024

A soft field landing is a technique pilots use when landing on unpaved surfaces. Why Do Pilots Perform Soft Field Landings? This tendency is due to their high center of gravity and heavy engine over the nose wheel. Crowd Source Information The next best resource for information about runway conditions is other pilots.

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NOTAMs Runway Approach Descent 52

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? An aft center of gravity increases flat spin risk.

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Center of Gravity Weight-Shift-Control Aileron Rudder 98

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Additional Dangers of Ice Accumulation Icing also makes your aircraft heavier and can even change the position of the center of gravity. The post The Hazards of Aircraft Icing: Explained appeared first on Pilot Institute. With thicker accumulations and irregular shapes, drag can get up to two times worse!

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Pitot Tube Drag Lift Airfoil 52

Captain Laura

JUNE 2, 2025

We were told at the time only it was about pilots, I was not asked about pilot communications. Pilot communication is one of the key factors. Pilot Personalities and Natural Abilities: I want to start by expressing that who we are innately makes us drawn to flying airplanes. Will we possibly need to hold or divert?

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Pilot Air Traffic Control Center of Gravity Flight Deck 93

Pilot Institute

JUNE 2, 2025

Pilots can let the aircrafts natural damping resolve the issue or make small, well-timed inputs. This could be a wind gust or a pilot making a control input. The motions are gentle enough that pilots sometimes correct them by making small control or power adjustments without even realizing its happening. Why is that important?

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Stability Tail Pilot Turbulence 52

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?

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Lift Torque Thrust Aileron 52

Plane and Pilot

MARCH 2, 2025

A former Marine and airline pilot with 30,000-plus hours, he has owned two of the 10 Robin R2160s imported to the U.S., I started with the father, and continued with his brother and daughter, who is now a corporate pilot, flying Embraer 145s. Lee Smith enjoys mentoring aspiring young pilots. My son Lee Jr.

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Rudder Pilot Airplanes Center of Gravity 80

Vintage Aviation News

DECEMBER 14, 2024

One of the biggest challenges for the X-29 was the unusual center of gravity, which was affected by the rear-mounting of the forward-swept wings and made the X-29 inherently unstable. This was why the strakes were added to the X-29’s tail, in order to reduce drag from using the trim on the canard in the nose.

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Horizontal Stabilizer Center of Gravity Tail Drag 96

AV Web

MAY 22, 2024

It involved an in-flight breakup, and the pilot was a doctor. This is often the result of the aircraft picking up excessive airspeed as a result of pilot disorientation in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), followed by an abrupt pitch-up after exiting the bottom of the cloud. local time, roughly three hours into the flight.

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Tail Instrument Meteorological Conditions Knot Groundspeed 105

AV Web

MAY 22, 2024

It involved an in-flight breakup; and the pilot was a doctor. This is often the result of the aircraft picking up excessive airspeed as a result of pilot disorientation in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), followed by an abrupt pitch-up after exiting the bottom of the cloud.

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Tail Instrument Meteorological Conditions Knot Groundspeed 98

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Large aircraft use yaw dampers while small aircraft rely on piloting techniques to counter Dutch roll. For example, if a statically stable aircraft gets blown off course by a gust of wind, it tries to return to its original heading without pilot input. Dutch rolls are usually not dangerous. What Is a Dutch Roll?

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Stability Center of Gravity Aileron Rudder 52

Pilot Institute

JANUARY 7, 2025

Lets unpack what makes PAVE an indispensable tool for every pilot who values safety and precision. It stands for: P: Pilot A: Aircraft V: Environment E: External Pressures Whats the use of this checklist? Pilot: Assessing Personal Readiness Now, lets go through each component in PAVE. A safe flight starts with good preparation.

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Weather NOTAMs Pilot Center of Gravity 52

Pilot Institute

APRIL 5, 2024

Landing an airplane is not easy, even for experienced pilots. Why Crosswind Landings Aren’t Easy Ideally, pilots want the wind to hit the aircraft dead on the nose while landing. If the pilot makes no corrections, the aircraft gets blown off the runway centerline. Many pilots de-crab right before touchdown.

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Crosswind Longitudinal Axis Aileron Rudder 52

Vintage Aviation News

AUGUST 22, 2024

From daring rescues of downed pilots as enemy forces closed in to handling a crazed water buffalo aboard a C-123K transport, seasoned veterans share their unforgettable and extraordinary experiences. Over the intercom: “Loadmaster to pilot! Load to pilot! Trimming reduced the amount of control force a pilot felt.

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Weight-Shift-Control Tail Cargo Airplanes 52

Aerotime

OCTOBER 16, 2024

For example, when we do a cabin interior, the first thing we check is the center of gravity of the cabin. You have to be able to do weight evaluation and calculate the center of gravity. Once we have that, we give it to our pilots who make sure that you are not flying with dummy weight in the cabin.

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Jet Center of Gravity Airline Airlines 293

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 16, 2024

These enhancements, along with an increased center of gravity adjustment through the addition of forward ballast, ensured that the Sunderland could effectively defend itself while maintaining balance during flight. The nose turret, initially equipped with a Vickers K machine gun, was later switched to a Browning machine gun.

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Center of Gravity Tail Lift Aileron 52

Flying Magazine

MAY 6, 2025

Adventurous aerobatic pilot Frank Christensen, owner of Christen Industries, which built the Pitts Special series and the Christen Eagle II aerobatic biplane kit, watched as biplane sales fell during the early 1980s. In 1995, businessman, backcountry, and aerobatic pilot Stu Horn bought the company and changed its name to Aviat Aircraft Inc.

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Gross Weight Horizontal Stabilizer Airplanes Rudder 78

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

When spelled geoduck it represents a grotesque, oversized mollusk, or clam to we pilot simpletons. Much depends on the aircraft’s weight, pilot skill and, surprisingly, “how much abuse you want to experience. Checking the oil is the main attraction to the pilot. The airplane will handle more than you want to.”

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Airplanes Rudder Knot Aileron 79

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.

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Pilot Airplanes Runway Descent 52