91 posts
At first glance, the altimeter in an airplane seems like a relatively simple instrument. And it does work in a simple way, but not like most people would think it would. Pilots need to understand their instruments inside and out to get the right information out of them, and that’s especially true with something as […]
One of the essential factors in aviation weather is flight visibility. Visibility is the only legal weather requirement that must be met when landing after an instrument approach. If the visibility isn’t at least the minimum published on the approach plate, the pilot can’t land. What Does RVR Stand For? RVR is one way of […]
Modern small aircraft pilots can be forgiven for taking the “direct to” button on their GPS for granted. The ability to navigate straight to any point on the planet is a powerful tool in the cockpit. GPS has brought this technology to nearly every plane in the sky, but the concept has been around for […]
While it may seem like a simple matter, determining how high an airplane is flying is rather complicated. There are at least five different types of altitude that pilots use and think about. Which one is the altimeter reading, and is it even correct? It’s not a question an experienced pilot should have to ponder […]
There are two fundamental types of flying in the world. To greatly oversimplify it, the world of airliners and jets is instrument flying (IFR). The world of Cessnas and Piper Cubs is visual flying (VFR). But sometimes airliners fly visually, and some Cessnas fly on instruments. It’s all about the tools the pilot needs to […]
Most of a student pilot’s time in ground school is spent learning how airplanes fly. Just mastering the basics of straight-and-level, unaccelerated flight is plenty confusing. But comprehending the nuances of the forces of flight requires understanding that the critical stuff happens when things change. Today, let’s take a look at load factor. When an aircraft […]
Now a dying technology, ADF-based navigation was once the foundation of the airspace system. VORs eventually replaced it and, more recently, it has been made nearly obsolete by GPS satellite navigation. ADF stands for automatic direction finder. Based on simple AM-radio ground stations called NDBs (non-directional beacons), an ADF is an aircraft instrument with a […]
After 9/11, there was one significant change in aviation that all pilots became very familiar with. It’s changed the way they prepare for flights and made situational awareness even more critical than it always has been. Let’s talk about what role TFRs play in this. A TFR is a temporary flight restriction. TFRs are issued […]
One of the greatest technological marvels in aviation is used every day, all around the world. It allows aircraft to descend from a safe altitude and navigate directly to the threshold of a runway safely, without any outside visual reference at all. It’s called the Instrument Landing System, or ILS. The ILS, or instrument landing system, […]
Some terms in aviation stick around awhile. In some circumstances, the term outlives the technology! DME is the perfect example of something that made sense a few decades ago but is quickly becoming oddly outdated. DME stands for distance measuring equipment. At one point, this was a stand-alone radio that read out your distance to […]