Matt Claiborne

Landing an airplane is a complex task that is made up of many smaller flight maneuvers. Pilots have terms for each phase of the landing approach, from the legs of the airport traffic pattern to the last runway rollout. What is the Landing Flare? The landing flare, which is sometimes called the roundout, is when […]

Flying involves moving the aircraft in three dimensions, which makes turning it significantly more involved than turning a car. To turn a plane, the pilot uses all three primary flight controls to move the airplane around its three axes. How Do Airplanes Turn? To turn a plane, the pilot uses all three primary flight controls […]

One of the mystical things about airplanes is autopilot. We hear about it in movies, and we know it’s there, but what does it do and how does it do it? When you’re on an airliner, how much of the time is the pilot flying the plane? What is Autopilot? Autopilots are pretty simple devices […]

Airplanes have three main types of control surfaces that allow the pilot to control them as they fly through the air. The elevator allows the pilot to, as they say in the movies, “Pull up!” How Does the Elevator on a Plane Work? The elevator is a horizontal control surface, usually located on the tail […]

There are more than a hundred different types of clouds. Luckily, they aren’t hard to learn because they are categorized in a very logical order. Once you learn a few basic definitions, you’ll be identifying every cloud in the sky with no problems. Clouds are classified based on their physical characteristics, and further on where […]

The airplane’s flight controls are the moveable control surfaces that the pilot can use to control the plane as it flies through the air. Of the three primary flight controls, the rudder is often the most misunderstood.  What Does The Rudder Do? Like all flight controls, the rudder is a mini wing that creates a […]

Have you ever sat on an airliner and wondered where the power comes from? Everything is electric, from the reading lights to the entertainment screens. It’s relatively easy to see how the enormous turbine engines produce thrust. But the power and hot air produced by those Jet-A guzzling monsters are used to power many onboard […]

Aeromedical factors are the study of how the human body works when flying a plane. Quite a few things change for our bodies once our feet leave the ground. Perhaps one of the most apparent challenges we face at altitude is the reduced amount of oxygen. What is Hypoxia? Hypoxia is simply the medical term […]

With so many commercial jets flying routes all over the world, there probably isn’t a person on Earth who hasn’t noticed the white smoke coming from airliners. But why do these streaks only occur behind some planes? Are they dumping fuel? Is it hazardous? What exactly are these vapor trails? Why Planes Leave Trails When […]

One of the most fundamental concepts in aerodynamics is the concept of angle of attack, also called AOA. Aerodynamics is a complex subject and there are many concepts that go into understanding precisely what the AOA is and why it is essential.  The angle of attack (AOA) is the angle formed between the wing and […]