A key elementof crew resource management (CRM) is a crew briefing prior to critical phases of flight, particularly takeoff and departure, and arrival and approach. A good, complete briefing establishes that all involved understand and agree on essential elements of the procedure and make certain there are no questions.
As a flight instructor who specializes in aerobatics and a designated examiner, I am rarely in a position to teach aviation basics like takeoffs and landings.
In primary training, go-arounds are practiced routinely to ensure student pilots are comfortable aborting a landing if, for any number of reasons, the pilot deems it unsafe to continue. But what about aborting a takeoff?
A Cessna Citation 550 struck high-voltage power lines while approaching Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego just before 4 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on May 22. The aircraft was approaching the end of the second leg of a long overnight from New York in instrument conditions and without the benefit of a local altimeter setting—which may become a focus of the NTSB investigation.
A Cessna T207 Turbo Stationair was destroyed April 28 attempting to land at Nanwalek Airport in Alaska, and the NTSB preliminary report includes details that point to loss of control during a go-around attempt.
STOL videos are fun to watch. Seeing stripped-down Cessnas and homemade purpose-built tailwheel airplanes land and stop in mere feet brings out the airborne cowboy in all of us. There’s just one problem.
I passed my instrument checkride but then didn’t fly for more than four years before returning to flying in 2024. Even then, I knew true proficiency would be an ongoing process.
Ask a first-time jet pilot halfway through initial training what they’re finding to be the most difficult approaches to fly, and you’ll likely get one of two answers: the single-engine hand-flown precision approach, or the circle to land. Both demand precise control inputs, careful energy management, and adherence to the manufacture’s scripted “profile” that prescribes aircraft configuration and speed throughout the maneuver.
Five people aboard a Beechcraft Bonanza were hospitalized on March 9 after the aircraft crashed less than a minute after takeoff and slid into the parking lot of an airport-adjacent retirement community in Pennsylvania.
Grass strips often call to mind fat-tired Super Cubs on dogleg approaches in the backcountry, but no specialized aircraft or skills are required to enjoy many grass fields in our own backyard.
The climbing Cessna 172 was probably not visible from the overtaking Lancair 360 Mk II above it as the two aircraft converged at the outset of their third circuit around the pattern on February 19.
The NTSB determined that the pilots of a turbine-powered Piper Malibu Mirage and a Cessna Skyhawk that collided in July 2022 had a low probability of being able to see each other's aircraft in the final minute of their respective approaches to parallel runways.
As my student Becky bored down final approach toward the runway threshold, it became apparent that she was carrying a noticeable amount of crab angle to track the extended centerline.
No one ever thinks they’re going to crash or have an off-airport landing, but every day, pilots have mishaps ranging from minor landing incidents to crashes in inhospitable terrain.
After your training flight, the postflight debrief, and your drive home from the airport, I want you to sit down alone for a few minutes in a nice, quiet place.
As pilots we have every incentive to consistently land well. A good landing can be a bringer of jollity, resulting in admiration from your passengers, respect from your fellow pilots, perhaps even the rare compliment from your flight instructor. And bad landings can be the bringer of grief: bruised ego, lowered confidence, and, in the most egregious cases, bent metal or torn fabric and a hefty bill to follow.
Have you helped your students see the practical significance of computing takeoff distance? If not, then it’s possible their takeaway is that the exercise is a silly preflight task we do only as required by FAR 91.103 but, otherwise, a waste of time. As an examiner, I routinely see this calculation dismissed as such. Here are some suggestions to make teaching the takeoff distance performance calculation meaningful.
The winds aloft at 4,500 feet were moderately strong out of the south, which made the trip to Prickett-Grooms Field (6Y9) from Menomonie, Wisconsin, a short one, but it would require a 90-degree crosswind landing on a 2,600-foot east-west runway with tall trees off both ends.
A pilot’s operating handbook can read like a mystery novel. While there is helpful information for flying an airplane, what they omit can be a real head-scratcher.
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Get instant access to Flight Training's special issue titled You Can Fly: Your Path to Become a Pilot. This beginning pilots' resource guide explains what you can expect from your introductory flight through initial training—and how to turn your dream of flying into reality. Simply enter your name and email address.