Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 1, 2025

This section is also needed when youre calculating your true airspeed, which you need to know to plan your flight. Calculating True Airspeed Follow steps 1-3 from the section above. Find your Calibrated Airspeed on the middle scale on the movable disk. Thats your true airspeed. Look under the grommet.

Groundspeed

Plane and Pilot

JULY 10, 2025

Jet pilots are all aware that up in the flight levels, they thrive on the increased true airspeed that the low atmospheric density produces. Up in the flight levels, jets fly at relatively low indicated airspeed and still cruise at 7-8 miles per minute. It should not have been a surprise, but it was. So far, so good.

Density Altitude

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Flutter is a dangerous, complex, dynamic aeroelastic phenomenon dependent on true airspeed. The margin beyond VNE in indicated airspeed and the onset of flutter may be less than many pilots would guess. Nevertheless, the NTSB is clear. A mellow barrel roll was fine. A too-fast entry into a power-on split S was not.

True Airspeed

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Flutter is a dangerous, complex, dynamic aeroelastic phenomenon dependent on true airspeed. The margin beyond VNE in indicated airspeed and the onset of flutter may be less than many pilots would guess. Nevertheless, the NTSB is clear. A mellow barrel roll was fine. A too-fast entry into a power-on split S was not.

True Airspeed