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Listen to the Tower online
ONE of the challenges for new students is to get to grips with radio communications. This is especially important for my students as we conduct our lessons based at CYTZ, a busy controlled airport.
Category: Of interest to student pilots
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Photo by Gary Lopater on Unsplash
Life as an airline pilot
It’s a funny how things go in threes, isn’t it? Today’s “three” was a trio of enquiries all nearly identical: “Hi Alec, I have an established job in a professional field, I’m looking at my future behind a desk for the next thirty years, and I think I want to be an airline pilot instead.
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Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash
No person shall operate an aircraft
When you get in your small airplane in Canada to go flying there are a bunch of requirements that it has to meet in order for the flight to be legal. The rules are scattered through the Canadian Aviation Regulations, so I thought it might be useful to gather together as many of them as… Read more »
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Photo by Garrett Jackson on Unsplash
How young is too young?
Every so often I get an email or phone call from a happy family member who wants their young one to get a PPL or recreational pilot permit…
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Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash
Wind shear in the circuit
Flying circuits this Friday with a student at CYTZ, I noticed an interesting phenomenon – that our progress on the downwind leg seemed unusually slow. We had a lot of time to level off from the climb out, pick a distant landmark to help fly a straight leg, contact ATC and ask for a touch-and-go,… Read more »
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Photo by Blake Guidry on Unsplash
The six jobs of the private pilot
Some years ago, flight crews on at least the largest airplanes had five members, each one of whom would have a full-time rôle to fill during the flight and without each of whom being present some important things wouldn’t get done.
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Photo by Piret Ilver on Unsplash
Flight test notes: centre of gravity
My colleague Ivan was prepping a student for their PPL flight test and he asked me if I knew a good online resource to help explain what effects moving the centre of gravity of an airplane has on its flight characteristics.
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Photo by Rita Morais on Unsplash
How to avoid a landing accident
One of the features of flying a small airplane that contributes to safety is this: most of the time, circumstances, and the airplane both give you lots of warning of an impending accident and plenty of opportunities to repent, change your ways, and prevent a bad outcome.
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Photo by Ashley Kirk on Unsplash
How to re-start flight training. And how not to.
Every now and then, a student drops out of training. This happens at my Flight Training Unit, and at other Flight Training Units across the country. And every now and then, a student who has done some previous flight training and stopped taking lessons decides to come back and have lessons once again, and restart… Read more »
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Photo by Jornada Produtora on Unsplash
“Hold short” vs “holding short”
Something every student pilot should know is this…