Flight Training

Sample Takeoff Briefing

Before Takeoff Checklist
Throttle: 1700 RPM
Magnetos: Checked
Carb Heat: On
Carb Heat: Off
Throttle: Set-800 RPM
Flight Instruments: Set
Takeoff Briefing….huh???
A common problem that I see in many of my students (both primary and advanced) is the failure to adequately brief the takeoff and departure segments.  This is a critical and common mistake with many pilots.  Richard C. Cushing summarized the [...]

How to calculate your headwind or tailwind

Here is an easy enough question that came in from Dennis:
How do I calculate a headwind or tailwind?
This calculation is very easy using a mechanical flight computer such as an E-6B . The E-6B is a circular slide rule that has two sides: the computer side and the wind side.  The computer side which contains [...]

Airplane Single Engine Rating Time Requirements

This has been a pretty busy week for me as I am currently in Wilmington, DE at my yearly recurrent training event at Flight Safety.  My recurrent training is something I definitely look forward to each year.  It is a wonderful opportunity to not only re-learn the things I have forgotten since last year but [...]

What the heck is a Q-route?

This is great follow-up question to a previous post, “Can you use a q-route below FL180?”. The question came to me after posting a link to that post on my Twitter profile.
So what the heck is a Q-route?
Well.  There are primarily three types of airways:
1) VOR Federal airways - This is the airway system that [...]

What the fastest way to reinstate my CFI?

Mike writes in asking:
I am an out of work, corporate pilot who has let his CFI expire . I am applying for a job that requires a valid CFI license. I have not instructed for some time. In your opinion, what is the most cost effective and painless approach to re-instating my license?
Hi Mike.  There [...]

Can you become a Sport Pilot instructor with a Private rating?

From Mark, we have another question about Sport Pilot:
Does a current Private Pilot have to get a Sport Pilot rating as part of the requirements of being a CFI-SP Sport Pilot flight instructor?
Mark, the FAA has a table (pdf; it’s hard to track down!) that lists all the requirements for various SP certificates. CFI - Sport [...]

Glass Cockpit or traditional gauges for primary training?

Here is a great question that I received recently from Brian wondering if he should choose an aircraft equipped with a G1000 or an aircraft with traditional instruments for his primary training.  His question:
I’m trying to decide between doing flight training in an airplane with a G1000 cockpit versus an airplane with the traditional mechanical [...]

What is meant by “Five by Five”?

Have you ever wondered what is meant by the term “Five by Five?”  You’ll hear this sometimes as a response when an aircraft or tower is asking for a radio check:
“Citation XYY, how do you hear this transmitter?”
“5 by 5″
Well, I’ve heard this term used countless times and it was a recent transmission that finally [...]

Next Page »