Flying is fun, it’s exciting, it’s rewarding, it’s something you look forward to doing on the path to become a commercial pilot. However, most will tell you that the obligatory FAA knowledge tests are none of these things. They are merely the unpleasant somethings we have to do in
By Chris Webb I’ve seen all sorts of logbooks over the years; big ones, small ones, green ones and orange ones. I’ve heard myths and rumors of what logbooks ought to be. I have seen them with various colors of ink, cross-outs, white-out and even taped in pages. There
By Dr. Mike Bliss As part of the continuous path of how to become a pilot, we should always be looking for new ways to broaden our knowledge base and refresh what we already know. One easy way to do that is by planning flights to new and various
It’s that time of year again. School’s out, family vacations are in full swing, and beautiful flying weather is ahead of us. We’ve been fortunate to have an unusually wet spring season, which means the once brown fields of winter should now be nice and green as we fly
The most common reason for problems on an IFR departure is the same as for any other phase of an IFR flight, and it’s not one that keeps you from getting a commercial pilots license: mental disorganization. One contributing factor to mental disorganization is that the pilot doesn’t know
The problem with landing an airplane is that there are so many variables. New, and even experienced pilots, have difficulty applying what they have learned from one landing to the next because each landing feels like a new experience. A pilot breaks down an instrument approach into segments in order
By Mike Bliss As we approach summer, regardless of the fact that the days are longer, many pilots, especially those who’ve completed CFI academy, choose to take advantage of the nicer weather to engage in night flying. There are several regulations that govern what we do at night and
Every airplane checklist has a story. Sometimes the story tells the tale of a responsible pilot who double checks all of the boxes on their list, while other times the pilot has forgotten to check even the smallest detail before take off resulting in an unintentional accident. Each time
By Mike Bliss When we first learned to drive, we were taught the importance of defensive driving. We learned how to develop the habit of anticipating situations before they happened and to be prepared to take action as we identified hazards in our path. These same skills are equally
By Chris Webb Here are a few of the questions I get in and out of airline academy. What does it mean to ‘preflight an aircraft?’ When should it be done and who should do it? It is very easy to just follow the checklist. After all, that is
By Mike Bliss Although much attention has been given in the last few years to the topic of runway incursions by those in and out of commercial pilot programs, it continues to be a problem, one that can potentially have very serious consequences. The key to avoiding such incursions
By: Stephen Daun Much of our country experienced hotter than normal temperatures this summer. Because of this, many pilots had to adjust the way that they flew to deal with the higher temperatures and higher density altitudes. Now it’s is time to prepare for our annual mindset shift from summer