Training

I realized at some point during my instrument training that airplanes are a lot more like horses than they are like cars, and pilots can learn a lot by approaching their machines with this in mind. As a child I rode horses — a lot. We had four of them on our property. As a […]

The newest version of Sporty’s Learn to Fly course is now available, and it’s the biggest update ever, featuring hours of updated HD video and the ability to switch among three viewing formats (online, iPhone/iPad and Apple TV) for one price. A student’s progress as he or she takes the course automatically syncs no matter […]

Airline pilots, while maneuvering their aircraft, also navigate individual and unique career pathways. At AirlinePilot.life, the online forum’s creator, Chris Carey, and fellow airline pilot mentors get many questions from aspiring professional pilots and trainees about charting this flight plan. How do new hires go from reserve duty to flying a wide-body airliner on international […]

Over the next two decades air carriers in North America will need 8,640 new airliners, according to a study Boeing released this summer, but the company’s research and other industry data indicate there won’t be enough pilots to operate them. “Historically the Boeing report has been incredibly spot on,” says Paul Templeton of PilotJobs.com, which […]

Airline pilots take various routes to the cockpit of their aircraft, but many experts agree the fastest and surest is through a full-time program focused on training pilots for airline careers. To be sure, getting the required ratings and flight experience may be expensive, but the real costs to consider, according to these experts, are […]

Mojave, California-based Flight Research has introduced a course to help pilots understand how icing conditions affect performance and what to do if they enter icing conditions inadvertently. The course includes three hours of ground instruction, teaching pilots about the dangers of icing on the airframe and how it affects aircraft performance. Like all of Flight […]

FlightSafety International says customers will soon be able to take advantage of a number of new business aviation training initiatives including simulators, eLearning programs and custom training packages. In an announcement yesterday at NBAA-BACE, the company said its third full flight Gulfstream G280 simulator is expected to come online in Savannah, Georgia, by March 2018. […]

Relevant Discussion: AIM 5-4-5, 7-1-11, 7-2-1 through 7-2-5, P/C Glossary, FAA-H-8083-16, AC 00-45, AC 91-70, AC 120-28D, Order 7110.65T Q codes are basic three-letter tele­communications codes designated in the early 1930s, back when Morse code was still the most popular form of long-distance information exchange, to facilitate the transmission and reception of common questions and […]

Global air travel trends and a wave of coming retirements are fueling an unprecedented demand for airline pilots that is already being felt. Regional carriers including Republic Airways, Cape Air and Horizon Air have had to cancel flights and cutback their schedules due to a shortage of pilots, and forecasts indicate the trend will accelerate. […]

(Read part one here.) VLOF — Liftoff speed. Speed at which the aircraft becomes airborne. Back pressure is applied at VR (rotate) — a somewhat lower speed — so that liftoff actually happens at VLOF. VMCA or VMC — More commonly known as VMC (although VMCA is more correct). Minimum control speed with the critical […]