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A recent AskTheCFI post had a student pilot asking about the TPA at a field (I66) when it’s not listed in the A/FD. The answers weren’t particularly informative so I thought I’d write short post. If you look in the A/FD for TPA’s you’ll see that the traffic pattern altitudes are usually either 800′AGl or [...]

As a rough guide for most Cessna tricycle singles, when you get into ground effect you can enter an attitude with the top of the cowling even with the top of the trees in the distance. This will give you a slight nose-up attitude. Then gradually increase backpressure to keep the cowling in that position [...]

“Far too many pilots begin watching the airspeed indicator, looking for takeoff speed. Bad move, in my opinion. I absolutely do not care what the speed is. My only concern is to allow the airplane to lift off and fly when it wants to. How? In the vast majority of these nosedragger aircraft, if you [...]

§ 91.113 Right-of-way rules: Except water operations. (a) Inapplicability. This section does not apply to the operation of an aircraft on water. (b) General. When weather conditions permit, regardless of whether an operation is conducted under instrument flight rules or visual flight rules, vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as [...]

GND Mode Setting the ground-speed recognition function that activates airborn/ground modes the GTX 330. Pushing STBY puts the transponder in standby. That seems pretty obvious. Just on a whim I tried pushing and holding the STBY button. After 5 seconds, it arms itself into an auto detect mode. And sure enough, I went flying and [...]

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 [...]

This is a phenomenon that happens frequently in coastal California. John Lindsey’s daily weather report triggered this post. “At 5 a.m. this morning’s low at the Paso Robles Airport was 45 degrees while the temperature at the San Luis Obispo County Airport was 63 degrees. Temperatures at Avila Beach and Diablo Canyon were even warmer, [...]

A recent Opinion by the FAA Office of the Chief Counsel, changes my understanding of when you can file an IFR flight plan. I had been under the impression that both the plane and a pilot had to be IFR rated to file and fly under IFR, but his opinion states, Your fIrst question asks [...]

The FAA has issued an advisory circular that provides aircraft owners, operators, and pilots operating aircraft under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 91, with information for removal of paper aeronautical charts and other documentation from the cockpit through the use of either portable or installed cockpit displays (electronic flight [...]