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I answered a question on StackExchange about the meaning of Takeoff Minimum NA and indicated that they do not apply to Part 91 pilots, but after thinking about it, I’m not so sure. § 91.175 does require a minimum flight visibility, The flight visibility is not less than the visibility prescribed in the standard instrument […]

When descending on an ILS you can descend to 100′ above the TDZE if you have the approach lighting system in sight. Cody Johnson wrote an article explaining how one pilot mis-interpreted what the rules allowed him to do, descended below 100′ when there were obstructions in the way and crashed into a hill. Section […]

Question for people who’ve been around aviation for a long while. There’s a Beech Sierra in our hangar and I think it’s the first pre-2000s low-wing plane that I’ve ever seen with two doors. Modern designs all seem to have two doors, but except for Cessna, none of the older planes do. (Although the 36 […]

Width of Federal Airways I know that Federal airways are 4 nm on each side of the centerline, but I can’t find it in the FARs or directly in the AIM. At one point there was a FAR, 14 CFR &sect 71.75 that said, “(b) Unless otherwise specified: (1) Each Federal airway includes the airspace […]

A vertical stabilizer provides lateral stability to minimize yaw. The vertical stabilizer is sometimes referred to as the fin. There is a part of the airplane that extends along the top of the fuselage and connects to the vertical stabilizer. In some airplanes, like the Pilatus and Cessna 150 below this part looks like it […]

There are a lot of things in the FARs that I have a hard time remembering and a lot that I find confusing at first glance. I figured that if I have trouble others might too so I’ve collected my thoughts here. There are lots of things that I find interesting that appear here as well.