Archive for the ‘Flight Training’ Category

Thanks to Jason Schappert of MzeroA.com. This is one of the best videos I have found on the subject.
My favorite method of determining holding pattern entries.
Just a few things I would add: (please let me know your thoughts and or tips)
1. Ask yourself “where am I in relation to the holding fix?” Are you proceeding direct to the fix? If so continue with the method mentioned in this video. If on the other hand you are on an airway and still need to make a turn before reaching the holding fix this method will not work out well. Wait until you are inbound to the fix before using this method. Read the rest of this entry »

I originally discovered this video at www.aviationchatter.com and found it quite educational so I figured I would share it with our viewers.

A number of years ago NASA conducted a study on tailplane icing and made this video for all pilots. It outlines some of the distinct differences in both the symptoms and recovery techniques used during a tailplane stall due to tailplane icing. You never know, someday you might need to know the difference.

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On Saturday March 13th I attended the Mattituck TMX 360 Engine Assembly Workshop in Mattituck NY. The original plan was to attend the event with some of my fellow flying club members but due to scheduling conflicts I went solo. Bad weather was forecast in the Northeast so I made the call early on to drive. The weather turned out to be quite bad so there were no regrets about scrubbing the flight. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally some IMC!
After all of  my IFR flight training you would expect to see some actual IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) flight time in my log book, but after about 42 hours of IFR time there wasn’t much. Just a few flights at altitude in and out of the cloud layer, not what I would consider IMC. Well yesterday I made up for some of that. I didn’t think my simulated instrument time provided enough experience to just hop in the plane solo, takeoff into the soup and fly an approach to minimums; so I opted to fly with an instructor. After calling the flight school the dispatcher let me know that one of the instructors would head up to the airport in about an Read the rest of this entry »

I have been working on my IFR rating for about a year now and after a few months of pretty intensive training I went for my IFR check ride with my DPE (FAA Designated Pilot Examiner).
My first step was to sign up for the IFR ground school at American Flyers in Morristown NJ. I attended the IFR ground course and studied at night. After the 3 day course I took the IFR written exam and passed with a 90%. It wasn’t the 100% I was aiming for but I will take it.  Read the rest of this entry »