Flight Instructor Blog
Overview: At first glance the X11 has an impressive presence on paper but, in execution and practical use, the X11 falls short of its competitors.
Conclusion: Comfortable but fragile. Horrible Support
David Clark is a well-known aviation headset maker with their distinctive sage green colored headphones. I have owned the H10-20 and, my personal favorite David Clark […]
“Coming or Going? At night or in conditions of poor visibility navigation lights tell you a traffic advisory story in color. All pilots should refresh their memories periodically so that they can immediately determine the flight path of another aircraft by the color and relative position of the navigation lights it displays. The airborne pilot, […]
The following article and pictures are from May 1963 FAA Aviation News. I routinely collect old FAA magazines (much to the chagrin of my wife) and I love reading through them and finding gem articles like this one that discusses the importance of a postflight inspection. Unfortunately, the FAA has not archived these wonderful articles […]
Just wanted to post a couple pictures from my Oshkosh 2010 visit yesterday. I usually just go up for the day, but one of these years, I’m going to plan on staying a little longer. It’s kind of like visiting The Louvre, there is just no way to see and visit everything in […]
Cameron writes asking:
I am interested in becoming a pilot but with todays job market I feel like it might be trouble. My first concern is, do military pilots excel further, faster than civilian trained pilots? Like most careers I’m told that starting out I won’t make a dime. How long would it be before I […]
My home office is an absolute mess and Mrs. Askacfi has finally had enough. She has let me know that it is time to clean my desk. As a result of my recent organizing efforts I stumbled upon a old printout that helped me prepare for my Private Pilot Checkride. The title on the […]
Jim, a CFI, wrote in asking:
Who is pilot in command during a BFR? The CFI or the pilot who is taking the review? Here’s why I ask: many private pilots are in the habit of letting their BFR lapse before coming to me for a BFR. My attitude has been that if […]
Every once in a while I get a question on askacfi.com that I’m pretty sure is a homework question but I still don’t mind answering it. Like the one I just got from Javier who writes asking:
Two airplanes are flying at the same altitude, the same day, same conditios, except airplane A is much heavier […]
John writes in asking:
When I file an IFR flight plan using VOR waypoints ATC will be often give me clearance to fly a Victor route instead. My GPS does not have the capability to fly these routes. If I use my GPS to navigate I have to fly using the […]
There are about 200 unanswered questions sitting in my inbox that I need to answer right now, but I wanted to quickly share with you a cool website that I found recently. I was trying to check weather at a destination airport that isn’t able to generate a METAR report because it is served by […]
Like most pilots, I love speed. I’m always excited when I set a new high ground speeed mark in the GPS or when I make a regular trip in extra short time. And sometimes, on those extra fast legs, I wonder if my personal best just might also be a record book best. Which is […]
I received an email yesterday asking me to check out a brand new publication from AOPA’s ASF Foundation called “CFI to CFI”. This quarterly flight instructor newsletter is packed with tips for flight instructors to use with students and articles to aid in professional CFI development.
I tried out the digital copy of the newsletter […]
Michael writes asking:
How do you log the private pilot practical test, Do I log it as PIC? Dual? I don’t feel as if I am the PIC because I was not yet qualified, and its not really dual because there was no instruction.
Hi Michael,
Actually, according to § 61.47 you can log your private pilot […]
I can remember vividly my first flight in a Cessna 182. For me, it was the first step beyond the training airplanes of the Cessna 152, 172 and 172RG. The Sylane was a “real” airplane, equipped with a 230 horse power engine! If I’m not mistaken, my first flight in a Cessna 182 was actually […]
One of the more exciting things about learning to fly is the day when people start paying you for your pilot services! I could dedicate an entire site to discussing ways you can get paid to fly, but one of easiest and most popular ways is by becoming a contract pilot. As a contract pilot […]
A good pilot is always learning right? Well, I have learned something recently about TAA approaches, procedure turns and how they are charted, especially on the Jeppesen charts. To begin, let’s take a look at this traditional RNAV / GPS approach:
This is a standard “Basic T” approach that uses a Terminal Arrival Area (TAA) to […]
If you follow my tweets very much, you might know by now how I am a huge fan of Fltplan.com. I think they easily have the best and slickest flight planning services available on the web. From aviation weather to NOTAMS to approach charts, this is really a one-stop shop for planning and filing […]
As reported in this morning’s AvFlash news, the FAA is soon going to implement a change from “Position and Hold” to “Line Up and Wait” in order to conform with international phraseology standards. This change is expected to occur in mid-year 2010. In fact, if you fly in and out of Canadian airspace you know […]
With Paul’s recent post on the VFR day and night equipment mnemonics, I figured it would be a good opportunity to start collecting some more. If you’re working on your Instrument rating, you’ve probably wondered if there are any mnemonics for the IFR required equipment dictated by §91.205.
GRABCARD is the classic memory tool:
Generator or alternator
Rate […]
Here is a question from Joe who asks:
How’s it going? I’m a CFI/CFII getting ready to work on my MEI. I’m was just wondering if you had any easy ways to teach 91.205. I have ways to easily teach equipment required for IFR flight and VFR Night. I just don’t have a easily remembered acronym […]
Melody asks an (increasingly common!) question about Sport Pilot upgrades for instructors:
I was told by an examiner that I could get a CFI Sport Pilot rating, then add on a CFI-SE Airplane. Is this accurate?
Whenever you’re looking into adding on a rating – any rating, whether it’s adding multi-engine privileges to a private ticket, or […]
James asks the following question:
During some ground time my CFI talked briefly about TURN and BANK being different but combined. Is there any readings or thoughts as to the clarification on these terms/manuvers?
Awesome question James! Turn and bank are concepts that many people just assume are the same, because they really do go hand in […]
