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Maneuvering Speed Many POHs give the maneuvering speed at max gross weight, but the lighter the airplane , the lower Va. A general rule is to decrease the speed by 1/2 the percentage decrease in weight. You can find Maneuvering Speed in the POH or on the aircraft’s Type Certificate Data Sheet. For my Cessna [...]

There are lots of mnemonics for remembering to do things in and around the plane. Some important things aren’t really mnemonics but are more like mantras. Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.—For the big picture of flying. Radios, Mixture, Master, Mags—For shutdown. I have my favorite mnemonics for various phases of flight—Why I disike GUMPS—and to remember things [...]

There are a few instances that I can think of where you need to estimate 1 minute. All pilots need to know how to reverse course when inadvertently entering IMC. The procedure is to note your heading and then make a 180° standard-rate turn. This turn should take 1 minute if you do not make [...]

Glenn Carlson has a post on descending along the ILS glide slope. It explains how to be sure that you are on the glide slope and not a false glide slope. The same rule of thumb can be extended for any descent to land. There is a 3:1 ratio of height above the airport and [...]