Piloting - Page 5

Pilots have strict dress codes regarding their appearances and uniforms. They have to maintain a neat appearance at all times, partially for safety reasons and partially to inspire confidence in passengers. Obviously, these rules apply to uniform regulations and visible body modifications, but what about facial hair and beards? The short answer is that commercial

Pilots are not just operators of aircraft; they are also representatives of the field of aviation and responsible for the safety of passengers. That means they have to present a professional, trustworthy appearance, which extends to hairstyles. Many airlines require pilots to have neat hair, but what does that mean for hair length? In short,

Flying a plane is certainly an anxiety-inducing experience, although for pilots with anxiety, the real stresses may be waiting back on land. There are many helpful tools to manage anxiety, including anti-anxiety medication. However, are pilots allowed to manage their anxiety with medication? In short, pilots are allowed to take anti-anxiety medication as long as

Billions of people around the world enjoy an occasional tipple of alcohol at the end of a long day (although, hopefully, most are not drinking on the job). However, for some professions, rules concerning alcohol consumption apply even off the clock. Pilots fall under that category, but the rules regarding drinking are not what you

If you’ve ever experienced glare while driving or riding in a car, then you’ve experienced a fraction of what pilots experience while flying. With no cloud cover to protect from the sun (and clouds, in fact, reflecting sunlight), it’s no wonder that pilots need sunglasses to see. However, can they wear any sunglasses, including polarized

Shopping for the right type of pilot school can take a little research. There are tons of new terms to wrap your head around, and the dollars and cents of flight training might also look like a riddle. One of the biggest questions potential students need to tackle is the difference between Part 61 vs

If you’re considering taking flight lessons, don’t take picking your flight school lightly. Choosing a flight program is like picking a college. But, flight school will ultimately cost even more than college will in most instances. There’s no silver bullet or definitive guide on how to pick the right flight school. The right school will

Despite the ominous-sounding name, dead reckoning is a fundamental skill that all pilots must learn. It’s been around for hundreds of years and is a basic part of celestial navigation. Pilots and mariners have crossed oceans with nothing more. And while modern pilots seldom learn celestial nav anymore, dead reckoning is a handy skill for

Everyone knows that pilots and the aviation world in general love acronyms. This is especially true regarding weather, where international standards mean everything has an acronym or abbreviation. Such is the case with the METAR, which stands for Meteorological Terminal Air Report. But what it stands for is less important than what it is—a simple,

Have you ever heard the terms “flying at the edge of the envelope” or “pushing the envelope”? Ever wonder what envelope they refer to? The flight envelope is a graphic representation of the conditions where you can safely fly an aircraft. When a pilot “pushes the envelope,” they are at the limits of what the