Flight Training Central

MAY 13, 2025

Most experienced pilots would be willing to admit that the perfect landing is much more of an art than a science. When on final approach with a strong headwind your groundspeed will be lower than in a zero wind condition. A forward slip creates high drag which produces a lower rate of descent. How will this affect your descent rate?

Approach

Pilot Institute

APRIL 22, 2025

Think of them as the lessons where you learn to master wind correction, aircraft control, and situational awareness all critical skills for a safe and proficient pilot. Expect an increase in groundspeed, and use smooth inputs on the controls to return to your original heading. Keep flying them.

Crosswind

Air Facts

MARCH 10, 2025

In Defense of the Paper Nav Log Air Facts Journal We’ve all heard the stereotypes about the way age affects the abilities of student pilots. A mid-lifer often shows up equipped with ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot from the start. For a mid-life pilot, this seems like a criminal waste of time. “Those high school kids?

Checkride

Air Facts

JUNE 6, 2025

Art, a friend from the nearby airport, told me that John, a local pilot out for a casual flight, had radioed in with a problem. My next idea was something I had learned as a relatively new pilot: a firm bounce on the runway using the main gear. But back then, we had no digital record—just memory. Still nothing.

Runway

Flying Magazine

APRIL 29, 2024

Sam Sessler, a private pilot from Seattle, has created a new way for fellow aviators to share their aerial adventures with one another in a mobile app he created called Hangar. Sam Sessler is the founder of Hangar, a social-sharing platform for pilots. Hangar is a social sharing platform for pilots. Those, I think, helped a lot.

Pilot

iPad Pilot News

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Top 10 apps for Student Pilots iPad Pilot News The iPad is a great tool for pilots of all skill levels, from airline captains to student pilots. Student pilots can take advantage of all these benefits and use the iPad to save time and money during flight training with great apps available from the App Store.

Pilot

iPad Pilot News

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Top 10 apps for Student Pilots iPad Pilot News The iPad is a great tool for pilots of all skill levels, from airline captains to student pilots. Student pilots can take advantage of all these benefits and use the iPad to save time and money during flight training with great apps available from the App Store.

Pilot

iPad Pilot News

AUGUST 27, 2024

ForeFlight improves flight planning in latest update iPad Pilot News This month’s update to ForeFlight is now available and adds several new improvements and capabilities to the app. The Estimated Groundspeed shows similar data to help identify the most efficient altitude and also factors in airplane performance.

Flight Plan

Flight Training Central

OCTOBER 7, 2024

Winds aloft, true course, heading and groundspeed. How far will an aircraft travel in 2 minutes with a groundspeed of 120 knots? When converting from true course to magnetic heading, a pilot should add westerly variation and subtract left wind correction angle. Which statement about longitude and latitude is true?

Flight Plan

Flight Training Central

JANUARY 10, 2025

Pilots must consider a variety of factors including terrain, weather, airspace constraints, and aircraft performance, to ensure a smooth and safe descent. Consult the flight manual supplement or pilots guide for your GPS navigator for additional details on utilizing the vertical navigation functions. In our example: 167kts / 2 = 83.5

Descent

iPad Pilot News

AUGUST 20, 2024

Understanding pressure altitude and GPS altitude in aviation apps iPad Pilot News Ten years ago, ForeFlight introduced synthetic vision and gave pilots a new way to view the world on their iPads. ” Groundspeed is helpful for estimating your time en route, but it is affected by wind and other factors.

Altimeter

iPad Pilot News

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Weather planning with Garmin Pilot: widgets and flight profile iPad Pilot News One of Garmin Pilot’s standout features is its split-screen mode. Unlock the Power of Widgets Widgets have been part of the Garmin Pilot app since the earliest days of the app, and is a feature not found on any other aviation app.

Weather

Pilot Institute

JANUARY 21, 2025

Takeoff, landing, and stall speeds listed in the Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) / Pilots Operating Handbook (POH) are IAS and do not normally vary with altitude or temperature. A pilot can find TAS by two methods. Additional Aircraft Speed Categories Ground Speed (GS) Groundspeed is the actual speed of the airplane over the ground.

Calibrated Airspeed

iPad Pilot News

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Top Apple Watch features and apps for pilots iPad Pilot News The Apple Watch has come a long way since the first version was released over seven years ago. Logten Pro This is a great addition for pilots using LogTen Pro as a digital logbook. Get the watch app here.

Pilot

Flight Training Central

MARCH 4, 2024

The entry into the maneuver should be accomplished downwind as you would enter the traffic pattern where groundspeed will be the greatest. The turn from the downwind leg onto the base leg is entered with a relatively steep bank angle since the groundspeed is greatest.

Groundspeed

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

As a relatively new pilot , I had failed to see the bigger picture. As a mountain-bred pilot, I’ve always enjoyed observing the ridges and valleys from on high and low. The post Riding the Mountain Waves appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine. In hindsight, that shortcut probably saved only 10 miles or so.

Turbulence

Flying Magazine

APRIL 25, 2024

During these events, it’s quite common for a pilot to walk up and ask me about how I handled my most challenging flight as it relates to weather. I don’t have such a story since I am always diligent about minimizing my exposure to adverse weather when I am the pilot in command (PIC). READ MORE: Go or Stay?

Weather

Air Facts

MAY 10, 2024

A circling approach is one that, by dwindling numbers and its inherent design, forces the pilot(s) into a seldom used and high-risk evolution–often migrating us to an unexpected and seldom visited zip code of the threat/error management neighborhood. When was the last time either pilot (single pilot) performed this exact approach?

Approach

Air

MAY 21, 2025

Aviation Winds Types Explained A Pilots In-Depth Guide For pilots, from their first solo to their thousandth hour, a profound understanding of the different types of wind isn’t just beneficial it’s absolutely fundamental to safety, efficiency, and the art of flying itself. It also allows for a steeper angle of climb.

Crosswind

Air Facts

JULY 15, 2024

It was fun doing over 200 knots groundspeed over Rawlings until I realized a solid wall of thunderstorms had formed between me and home, and there were 35 knot winds below. Here in Colorado most pilots know that flying over the mountains is a serious undertaking. What to do?

Crosswind

Air Facts

AUGUST 16, 2024

Back in the late 90s the FBO at the time (Atlantic) had crew cars for transient pilots. With a screaming tailwind, I was seeing a groundspeed of 185 kts at 6,500 feet. It still has lots of aviation including vendors, pilots and enthusiasts. This meant that I was up at 4:00 am. So yes, it was going to be a long day.

Weather

Air Facts

DECEMBER 30, 2024

This was the actual conversation that started the journey for this green commercial pilot. The year was 2017, and I was two months into my first pilot job flying skydivers in the C182 at a small Canadian drop zone, when my boss approached me with this question. “What?

Weather

iPad Pilot News

JUNE 14, 2024

FAA Updates Datalink Weather Advisory Circular iPad Pilot News The rollout of ADS-B datalink weather over twelve years ago was an interesting time for GA pilots. Pilots were free to use the system immediately with these new portable receivers, which improved in-flight decision-making almost overnight.

Weather

Air Facts

OCTOBER 14, 2024

From light turbulence which causes a minor change in the lateral, longitudinal and vertical axis through moderate turbulence where the aircraft movement is rapid but remains in the control of the pilot and then extreme turbulence where the control of the aircraft is lost. I once flew with a newly minted Private pilot in his Piper Archer.

Turbulence

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

Even the best of pilots can mess up sometimes. But for new pilots, it can be tough to figure out where it all went wrong. A stabilized approach requires the pilot to establish and maintain a constant angle glidepath towards an aiming point. You can find them in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) or the owner’s manual.

Descent

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.

Tail

iPad Pilot News

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Student pilot’s guide to cross-country flight planning with an iPad iPad Pilot News There is a wide range of opinions on how student pilots should use iPads during flight training. The post Student pilots guide to cross-country flight planning with an iPad first appeared on iPad Pilot News.

Flight Plan

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.

Tail

Air Facts

JULY 17, 2024

With groundspeed above 185 kts., In other words, this was a great time to be flying–truly a pilot’s dream flight. The four-seat Archer was in need of a long-legged flight and so was the pilot. His come back was “You are a pilot and are trained to stay calm.” So that didn’t work.

Groundspeed

Professional Pilot

DECEMBER 10, 2024

As a pilot, have you ever had to deviate to an alternate airport? Hawker 800XP Captain Collins & Aikman Troy MI I ve diverted to an alternate airport many times in my 45 years as a professional pilot. King Air 350i Chief Pilot Texas Pacific Land Dallas TX H ave had a few deviations due to weather. YZV went down as we landed.

Weather

Pilot Institute

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

The pilots decided to make an emergency landing in Winnipeg until, just moments later, the right engine also gave out. If you were the pilot in the cockpit, what would you do? This scenario is known as a deadstick landing , where a pilot must land an aircraft without engine power. Do you know why? What should you do?

Pilot

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

The 58-year-old pilot had about 7,000 hours of flight time, built up as a respected Marine Corps F/A-18 fighter pilot and United Airlines first officer. Taking off from the Henderson Executive Airport (KHND), the pilot flew a straight track over the desert for about 9 miles. The NTSB is clear on the probable cause.

Descent

Plane and Pilot

AUGUST 23, 2024

Fifteen hundred feet past the end of the runway, a pilot was trapped in the cockpit of an Extra NG. The tower frequency had been near silent, with only the occasional pilot checking in, curtly told, “Airport is closed, emergency in progress.” They were inverted in a Florida marsh, and the brackish water was rising. Long pause.

Knot

Air Facts

AUGUST 5, 2024

That said, you earned your Private Pilot Certificate and Instrument Rating back in SoCal, as the local pilot’s fondly refer to that part of the country. Inasmuch as I personally find that wording to be somewhat illusive, it does essentially mean that Part 91 operators (our mystery pilot) has none and can depart with zero visibillity.

Density Altitude

iPad Pilot News

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

How to use the Sentry Plus advanced features iPad Pilot News Portable ADS-B receivers have become essential gear for most pilots flying with an iPad these days, providing ADS-B traffic/weather and GPS navigation. The post How to use the Sentry Plus advanced features first appeared on iPad Pilot News.

Groundspeed

Air Facts

AUGUST 21, 2024

My Sonex cruises about 130 mph at this power setting, but headed southeast into the wind I am losing an easy 15 mph on my groundspeed. I make the calls out of the obligation of being a responsible pilot. My groundspeed is 150 mph and ahead of me the sunlight streams in Jacob’s Ladder’s from the clouds.

Groundspeed

Flight Training Central

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

As you enter the cross-country planning phase of your private pilot training, you’ll learn the skills required to plan long-distance trips using a VFR sectional, plotter, E6B flight computer and Navlog.

Flight Computer