Flight Instructor Blog

This question comes from Clayton:
I am a commercial pilot, single and multi engine ratings with instrument privilages. I am also a CFI single engine land.I recently received my CFI ticket and I’m confused on if the CFI ride counts as a biannual. Regs say that any additional rating qualifies as biannual but since the CFI […]

Funny story for you with humor that only a pilot may understand. I was checking the ASOS at my home airport on the way in tonight and I heard something interesting on the radio:
Automated weather, time 2156 zulu, winds 290 at 9, visibility 10, sky clear, light rain, temperature 22, dewpoint 16, altimeter 30.22

Sky […]

I am sure you have heard by now but on June 29, 2008 the FAA is mandating that all pilots who plan on using RNAV departures and arrivals must file an ICAO or international flight plan. Now, you don’t HAVE to accept the RNAV arrival or departure. In fact, you can keep using the […]

This question comes from Mike:
I am a 60 year old comercial pilot with instrument rating with over 1200 hours. I have been a teacher and I have been working on my CFI for a year. My instructor keeps putting off my check ride for one reason or another. At what point do you fire your […]

I just saw this video and had to share it. Apparently, a Cessna 150 landed on a highway in Florida after one of it’s cylinder’s seized up. After making repairs, the owner got FAA permission to take off on the highway! The owner told police that he would need 600 feet for […]

This question comes from John:
My 17 year old son, who last summer was working on his glider license, is now thinking about his private pilot airplane certificate. He didn’t get his glider certificate yet because he hasn’t taken the written knowledge test. Should he take the written for the glider first, or should he […]

This question comes from Josh:
I’ve had a little confusion with cross-country planning. It is with the magnetic and true courses. Can you tell me if this is right. When I plot the route and use my plotter, the course I get is a TRUE heading. I then add or subract the variation degree which converts […]

This question came from Josh:
I have flown with two different instructors, and both demonstrate and teach slow flight in different ways. What is the proper way to do this that is in the private pilot PTS and is what the DPE will look for?

Thanks Josh for your question. Yes, many instructors will have […]

For many people who want to learn how to fly, overcoming the financial hurdle is perhaps their biggest obstacle. But there are ways to minimize the costs. Here are some practical suggestions from aviation.com and Fred Simonds.
read more | digg story

I was looking at some crazy midwest weather today at the Aviation Weather Center and noticed an interesting note in the “Top News”. Apparently, on November 5, 2008 the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) will change from a 24 hour forecast period to new format to support a 30 hour TAF.
A quick background […]

As we all know, on May 22, the FAA NOTAM system went down. There is an interesting interview / article at Computerworld.com about why it happened. According to the article, it was a hard disk failure. Here’s a question? Why was the entire FAA NOTAM system dependent on one hard drive? […]

I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity lately to learn a lot about Prist. I say unfortunate because my learning opportunity revolved around a misfueling incident with the corporate aircraft that I fly. When I say “Prist” I am actually referring to “fuel system icing inhibitor” or FSII. Prist is one of the […]

If you haven’t noticed yet, a lot of the things I post about are things I am actively learning. Usually something I encounter while flying somewhere and I think, “Wow, I wonder what that is?” or “Cool, I never knew that” Take for instance, today’s post about EMAS.
I ran into EMAS (not litterally) while flying […]

We have heard it before, “A good pilot is always learning.” Well, I learned something this morning and I wanted to share it with you.
I was doing some preflight planning and I ran across this NOTAM:
Rwy 3/21 PAEW ADJ
I did a little research and learned that PAEW ADJ stands for:
Personnel and equipment on or adjacent […]

I am fresh off a visit to Sun N’ Fun last week in Lakeland, Florida.  There were a lot of neat exhibits that I would love to tell you about but that would probably bore you to death.  When I go to this kind of airshow I love visiting the exhibitor halls.  I like seeing […]

I have in a previous post discussed the popular column in Flying Magazine, “I learned about flying from that.” If you haven’t read that aforementioned post or the magazine, this column share stories of reader’s often harrowing accounts of things they have done while flying that  made them better pilots.  This is my story.
It happened […]

Well, after much encouraging from some fellow bloggers, I have just completed and launched a brand new theme for Ask a CFI.com.  My goal was to make sure there was little doubt that I am a pilot first and a blogger second.  I think this theme screams that message pretty clear and loud (5 by […]

As reported on AVweb this morning, a Citation X with some fuel and time to burn is starting up a whole new art form. Apparently, on March 7, 2008, N750CX, owned by Cessna Aircraft went on a high profile mission to create the company logo digitally on FlightAware.com. FlightAware is an online aircraft […]

I have just returned from a successful (we made it back) international trip. On the drive home I was thinking about how many individuals and people had to come together to make the flight happen the way that it did. These are people who were directly involved in the trip. I […]

As reported in this month’s Flying Magazine, the National Weather Association (NWA) is offering a free online weather theory course.   It is designed to help general aviation pilots understand how weather theory affects flying.
When you go to their website (see links below) you will find they currently offer two “modules”  An introduction module and an […]

I don’t know about you, but I have ALWAYS wanted to fly a DC3. When I meet anyone who has a DC3 type rating, instantly they are an aviation god to me. That is probably the one airplane I haven’t had the chance to fly that I really want to. Maybe […]

I was “stumbling” tonight and found a great website that I thought you would enjoy. But first, maybe I should explain what I meant by “stumbling” before you call my AME.
Stumble Upon! is a website and application that allows you by simpling clicking a button “stumble upon” new websites. It is kind […]

I recently had a privilege to fly a Beechcraft Baron, a multi-engine piston aircraft made by Beechcraft (Hawker). That flight came as a result of the corporate jet I usually fly being in for some routine maintenance. After the flight, a friend said to me, “What did you think?” (comparing the two […]

I was given the task recently of creating a map with aircraft range rings centered on my home airport. We were comparing two different types of aircraft and wanted to see visually what extra destinations would be available to us with another aircraft. I mentioned making the map briefly in my previous post […]

This might be one of those things I’ll write about that everyone else is already aware of but did you know that you have to register your new 406 Mhz ELT with NOAA?  Apparently these new transmitters send out a lot more than just an anonymous distress code.  They also send out the serial number […]