Insights, updates, and aviation stories.
If you’ve ever looked for a cheap aircraft, you’ve probably come across two types of aircraft that are considerably cheaper than traditional aircraft: ultralights and kit aircraft. Indeed, unlike other types of aircraft, the difference between ultralights and kit aircraft isn’t so clear-cut. You see, some kit aircraft can be ultralights, and some ultralights can […]
Pilots often mistake headwinds and tailwinds for one another. Indeed, both are similar but very different from one another and just as important to every type of pilot. So what’s the difference between them? This comparison will aim to explain precisely what each type of wind is, when and how they are important to you […]
Drones have played an important role in US military operations since the 1990s, but what are the main specific types, and how do they compare? The two main contenders are the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper, both highly capable, highly classified drones manufactured by General Atomics of San Diego. And both presently the drones […]
If you’ve ever looked at buying your own aircraft, you’ve probably realized that they are expensive. Even the cheapest aircraft are out of many people’s reach. One way some try to get a bargain is by buying a kit aircraft. But what exactly are they? Sometimes also called a home-built or amateur-built aircraft, the term […]
If you’ve ever been to an airport, or airfield of any kind, you’ve probably noticed how clean they are. But it’s not that way by accident – there are people whose entire job is to clean up the airfield – and you’ll find it’s like this almost everywhere you go. Indeed, no matter what aircraft fly […]
When it comes to all the different types of pilots out there, bush pilots have arguably done more to make the world a smaller place than their military and commercial counterparts have combined. The role of bush pilots is something that is almost as old as aviation itself, and provides a lifeline between many groups […]
In navigation, we sometimes face an awkward fact of life that many people don’t give too much thought to–our charts are flat, but the earth is round. If you’re flying a Cessna between Miami and Orlando, it doesn’t much matter. But it matters a lot if you’re plotting a course from Singapore to New York! […]
To most people, a pilot’s license is a pilot’s license. To pilots, however, it’s somewhat different, with different pilot ratings allowing pilots to fly different types of aircraft under different circumstances and conditions. It should be noted that the types of pilot ratings that exist differ from country to country, with some licenses simply not […]
If there’s one thing aviation’s full of, it’s acronyms. Pretty much everything has one. But arguably none are more important, to both pilots and non pilots alike, than GSE. That’s because they are arguably what keeps the airfield – no matter if it’s one of the world’s largest or one of the smallest – running […]
If you’ve ever looked at chartering an aircraft of any kind, or have hung around pilots for long enough, you’ve probably come across or heard a fair amount of aviation jargon. But whilst a lot of pilot jargon is rather simple and easy to work out, the concept of a dead leg flight is a […]