Flight Instructor Blog
So I’ve been thinking about buying a new Boeing 767. You know, just something to get up to the lake and back.
When Boeing sent me my informational brochures this past week, I decided to take a look at the range charts. Just to make sure it will make it to the lake (did […]
This past week I spent a lot of time on Airnav.com. It is THE online aviation database. I use this site, well, A LOT. How do I use it?
If you want to quickly find some airport information (like latitude and longitude).
If you quickly want a list of the FBO’s on a […]
The weather is pretty bad here is Ohio this weekend. So time to get a good book and read. What better to read than an aviation book? Especially one that you can learn from. I was looking over my “flying” bookshelf and found this book. I read it a couple of […]
Today I had the privilege of taking a control tower tour at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Springfield, Ohio (KSGH). It wasn’t my first control tower tour but it was definitely my most pleasant. The staff that works at Springfield tower, well, simply amazing. I really can’t say enough good about them; […]
Did you know you can use Wunderground to find historic information for airports? This can be extremely handy when flight planning a month or two ahead of time and trying to find out if you will be able to meet your performance criteria such as takeoff and landing distance which is temperature dependent.
To try […]
I can remember when as an new instructor my flight school purchased their very first Garmin 430. We were all very excited and as instructors we immediately realized that their were going to be lots of people asking us for checkouts in this airplane with this new Garmin 430. The only problem was, […]
I just read on AOPA.org tonight that the FAA on Feb 28 released a rule requiring pilots to use the newer plastic certificates (versus the old paper ones). So if you haven’t requested one, well, now would be a good time to do so. Although, you might want to wait a couple weeks as the […]
I wish I could say that all my wisdom in flying is due to the fact that I read it in an flying magazine, airplane manual or learned it from listening to a wise old flight instructor but the truth of the matter is that I have learned a great deal the hard way and […]
The FAA has a system designed to help operators, like airlines, stay ahead and updated on current policies and regulations so that they can stay in compliance. There are actually a couple of programs. The first is Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) and the second is a Information for Operators (InFO). The InFO contains […]
One of the hardest parts about being a professional corporate pilot (at least is the case with my organization) is the demand or expectation that you are aware of the current market prices of many different airplanes. With a highly volatile aircraft market, I find myself constantly searching for new resources that I can use […]
Once a month in my email inbox I receive a safety bulletin from the NASA aviation safety reporting system, also known as Callback. It summarizes and highlights selected reports from the NASA reporting forms. Think of it as a “Not Top-10 Plays” of aviation. NASA reporting forms is a volunteer system designed for pilots and […]
We had a great question on the forum tonight about shooting the MAP in Aspen, Colorado.
The missed approach procedure for this approach has you turn around and intercept the inbound localizer outbound (the back course of the inbound localizer) I know that when flying a back course inbound, you can set the HSI to the […]
Thought I would post a recent thread from our forum:
Here was the question that was asked:
Could you please give me a detailed explanation of maximum structural cruising speed. I’m confused as to why it is higher than manuevering speed and doesn’t change with weight like Va does if they both are turbulent air penetration speeds?
Thanks […]
Well, keeping with the winter weather theme, I thought it would be apt to talk about winter notams. I was checking weather this afternoon for a flight and came across the following NOTAMS:
CLE 12/090 CLE 6L ERD MU 22/26/29 WEF 0712051030
CLE 12/092 CLE 10 ERD MU 39/32/39 WEF 0712051040
CLE 12/115 CLE 24L ERD MU 37/41/38 […]
Well..that time of year has come. Time to review icing procedures and courses for icing. Already this season, I’ve already had a few icing encounters, fortunately all light with mixed rime. During a preflight weather check about a month ago I saw an PIREP from a CRJ experiencing severe icing. […]
I found this great article at Wikihow and wanted to share it with you:
http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-a-Flight-Instructor
Here are some highlights from the article
Airports usually have a Fixed Base Operator (FBO). The FBO manages the airport and hosts (or may own) flight schools. Flight schools have Certificated Flight Instructors (CFI) with training aircraft for rent.
If no one has recommended […]
I have recently added a blog feature to the site. This is so I can share flying tips and tricks with you and you can respond with your ideas and thoughts.
As always, this site still has a great forum that I hope you check out and register. What is better than talking about aviation?
Hopefully soon […]
Several years ago I bought a book that has now become a staple of my flight kit. It comes with me everywhere. If you haven’t heard about it, it is called The Captain’s Atlas and it is indispensable. It is a standard United States road atlas with aviation navigational aids (VORs, […]
I have been doing some multi engine flight training lately with some “advanced” students. These “students” have their commercial and instrument ticket and are looking to get checked out in complex, fast, multi-engine airplanes. As we are flying through the instrument system, I find myself passing on some knowledge to them that I […]
Crazy title for a post…”my best mid-air encounter.” Usually when someone utters the words, “mid-air” they mean, as in, mid-air collision which can make for a really bad day. This however, although it started out nerve wracking, turned out to be one of my cooler moments in flying.
