Category: Of interest to student pilots


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Photo by Larry Costales on Unsplash

Why is it hard to steer at takeoff?

We’ve had a lot of windy days this last week at CYTZ. A big low pressure system (one of the last of the winter, I hope) to the north east has been pushing strong northerly winds over Toronto, and when the wind comes over the downtown core it creates a lot of turbulence and gusts around the east-west runway at the Island.


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Photo by insung yoon on Unsplash

How to avoid three big time-sucks

Why does primary flight training sometimes take longer than it should? In this post I identify three traps that students fall into, each one of which sucks time and energy out of the training process, making progress take longer and cost more than it should. And these are three things under the control of you, the student, so the good news is they are all in your hands to avoid, or fix.



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Photo by Dlanor S on Unsplash

Crosswind landings: you are not driving a car!

Dear and wellbeloved student pilots,

Let me get right to the point: to land your airplane in a crosswind you must turn the ailerons into the wind as you touch down. I’m writing you this letter because doing this is proving difficult for some of you, and as a consequence you end up sliding the aircraft sideways across the runway. This is bad for the tires, the undercarriage and my nerves. It has to stop.


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Photo by Karol Kasanicky on Unsplash

The process of getting a licence

If you’re not already involved in the process of getting your first pilot licence or rating – but you want to start – there’s a steep learning curve not for the actual flying process but the for the learning and licensing process. This page is a high-level overview of the steps you need to follow.


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Please call in the downwind

FLYING A series of circuits the other week, at CYTZ, with a student, we were asked by the tower controller on duty to check in on the radio mid-downwind, rather than (as previously) in the base turn.





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First solo – Ken

WELL DONE to my student Ken, who today made his first solo, in FLYO at Billy Bishop. He flew a smooth circuit and made a great landing, and I have the video to prove it. Ken’s first flight at the controls of a powered airplane was in January, and today was his eleventh lesson. At… Read more »