By Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot My aviation career started in the ’80s. This was before the smartphone and iPad era. We were fortunate enough to have a flight service station at our airport. Most of the time, rather than calling the FSS, we visited the office. The briefer

By: Mike Bliss Every discipline has its own unique set of terms, whether they are slang, acronyms, or phrases. Aviation is no different. There are even subsets of the aviation language. For example, each military branch has its own terms and some have even migrated to general aviation. For

By: Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot It does not take long during primary flight training to realize that a pilot needs to adapt their mindset when flying into different airports. Controlled and uncontrolled airports are typically the primary difference. But each of those can be further divided into “busy”

By: Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot Winter is here and with it comes significant variation in the weather. It is important to note that when we discuss “winter weather” we are not just speaking about it being cold outside. Winter weather encompasses many different topics. For this article, we

BY STEVEN DAUN, NATIONAL CHIEF PILOT Perhaps the most basic question a pilot can ask is: “How do I control an airplane and make it do what I want it to do?” The answer to this question involves a fundamental principle that underlies just about everything a pilot will

BY STEVEN DAUN, NATIONAL CHIEF PILOT Webster’s Dictionary defines confidence as: “belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance.” If you ask any pilot if they are confident, the vast majority would say yes. Each year, we see many pilots with experience ranging from a day-one

We are all familiar with the term PIC—Pilot-in-Command. It is the legal term for the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety of flight. It is important to note, however, that there is a difference between being in command and being in control.

By Steven J. Daun, National Chief Pilot Just about every pilot can remember their first solo cross country flight. All of the hard work paid off and they were finally able (and allowed) to fly somewhere alone. From that time, for most pilots, planning cross country flights became rather

Holding patterns while enroute are rare indeed. You’re held for two reasons: traffic or weather. Most spacing now is accomplished through the use of speed reductions and vectors. Occasionally, holds do occur, particularly in a terminal area, so the pilot must be able to comply. What is a holding

By Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot You’ve decided to take a trip for either business or pleasure. You may be using your airplane or one that you’ve rented. Now it’s time to decide on your destination airport. Before the internet, this was a much more challenging task. Information regarding

The air route traffic control center (ARTCC) encompasses the en-route air traffic control system air/ground radio communications that provide safe, expeditious movement of aircraft operating on instrument flight rules (IFR) within the controlled airspace of the center. ARTCCs provide the central authority for issuing IFR clearances and nationwide monitoring