Pilot Institute

JUNE 9, 2025

Holding procedures often leave many prospective IFR pilots in a cold sweat. Pilots use holds for traffic delays, weather, emergencies, planning, or runway changes. Pilot Planning Nobody likes being put under pressure. Suppose an airport has a complex arrival, or the pilot has not planned sufficiently.

Airplanes

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

Theyre officially called Instrument Approach Procedure (or IAP) charts, but pilots often casually call them approach plates. As a pilot flying this approach, you need to know where to look for the right information at the right time. Flying at MSA guarantees at least 1,000 feet of obstacle clearance. The descent profile.

Approach

Air Facts

OCTOBER 30, 2024

Air Facts Journal I got my pilot’s license in 1984, but it was another five years before I became a pilot. Beginning almost forty years ago, I spent time in the cockpit with a series of pilots whose influence I have only recently started to appreciate. Even then, my education had only just begun. I’ve been a lucky man, indeed.

NDB

Fear of Landing

JANUARY 3, 2025

The flight crew requested an NDB approach to Grozny and were cleared for approach to runway 26. Flight Level 150 is 15,000 metres, around 50,000 feet, so I’m wondering if someone translated the flight levels, as that seems like a big jump in clearance from 800 metres (3,000 feet). Be warned, the footage is disturbing to watch.

Weather