The first step in becoming a pilot is selecting an aircraft (whether it’s airplanes, gyroplanes, weight-shift, helicopters, powered parachutes, gliders, balloons, or even airships). The second step is obtaining a medical certificate and Student Pilot’s Certificate if the choice of aircraft is an airplane, helicopter, gyroplane, or airship. Today, with
…Blog Posts
However controversial, it is said that the magnetic compass first originated in China during the Qin Dynasty sometime between 212 and 206 B.C. as a Chinese fortune telling device. It wasn’t until the 13th Century that the magnetic compass began to be widely used as a directive aid during maritime
…Today we’re taking another look at flight instruments, specifically the altimeter. Understanding the instrument and altitudes is critical in learning to fly. This post comes from on of our favorite textbooks, Bob Gardner’s The Complete Private Pilot.
Aircraft altimeters are aneroid (dry) barometers calibrated to read
…The official start to summer is just right around the corner, an exciting time particularly up here in the Pacific Northwest. With summer upon us we tend to see an increase in temperatures and more VFR weather, resulting in an increase in air traffic at and around airports. Changing seasons
…In March we looked at the basics of how an internal combustion works. Your airplane’s engine is a four-cycle engine: on the intake stroke, a fuel/air mixture is drawn into the cylinder as the piston moves down; the mixture is then compressed on an upward piston stroke;
…Let me quote §61.103(b), “Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language…”. This here is one of the eligibility requirements for Private Pilots and every other Pilot Certificate for that matter. Throughout training, however, it seems as if we are learning an entirely new language consisting of
…This post on spins is derived from the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, available from ASA in print and in PDF format.
A spin may be defined as an aggravated stall that results in what is termed “autorotation” wherein the airplane follows a downward corkscrew path. As the
…You may remember back in 2013 a UPS Airbus A300-600 crashed while on final approach to Birmingham International Airport, both pilots were fatally injured. The National Transportation Safety Board has just wrapped up a nearly two year investigation into the accident and on Monday released the first ever video companion
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