Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Alongside a nearby highway, some recognizable bits of airplane, the vertical stabilizer and rudder, a horizontal stabilizer and elevator, fell separately to Earth. The sole probable cause was the pilot’s ‘improper aerobatic maneuver…that exceeded the airplane’s design limits. I did my first aileron roll in an RV-4.

Indicated Airspeed 79

Indicated Airspeed True Airspeed Horizontal Stabilizer Aileron 79

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

How did any given airplane sell? In order to be flown by a sport pilot, the resulting airplane must still meet the current regulations—1,320 pounds maximum gross weight, 120 knots max cruise speed, for example—but how it gets there is up to the builder. But successful? Not at all. Was it profitable for the company?

Airplanes 92

Airplanes Knot Pitot Tube Gross Weight 92

Flight Training Central

MARCH 4, 2024

The airplane will be flown at 1,000’ AGL parallel to and at an equal distance from the field boundaries – about ½ – ¾ miles from the boundary as you would fly a traffic pattern. As the airplane turns onto the following base leg, the tailwind will decrease and becomes a crosswind.

Groundspeed 52

Groundspeed Crosswind Aileron Rudder 52

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

When I had the endurance to drive 20 miles to an appointment, had good situational awareness of all the cars around me on the freeway, and when driving didn’t take 100 percent concentration, I had passed the first challenge before getting in the airplane. The newer 172 (46 years old) did and had a 3-G limit with flaps extended.

Pitot Tube 69

Pitot Tube Approach Aileron Instrument Landing System 69

Pilot Institute

MAY 9, 2024

The higher speed creates extra lift, causing the airplane to bank further into the turn. We correct for the overbanking tendency with aileron opposite the turn. The pilot’s job is to prevent the airplane from banking too quickly or too far. The left wing’s aileron deflects up, decreasing lift.

Rudder 52

Rudder Lift Aileron Drag 52

Fear of Landing

MARCH 1, 2024

The stall speed is cited in the docket as 53 knots. Whoever was flying that day appears to have intentionally slowed the aircraft to 28 knots. The fuselage was crushed and the wings only partially attached to the fuselage, with damage to the ailerons and flaps. He listened to the airplane for a few minutes before returning home.

Descent 52

Descent Airplanes Knot Pilot 52

Pilot Institute

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

In maintaining a properly coordinated steep turn, the pilot must use the opposite aileron to maintain bank. To learn all the maneuvers you’ll need to perform on your practical test, check out Airplane Maneuvers Mastery for more. You may need to apply the opposite aileron to counter the overbanking tendency.

Lift 52

Lift Aileron Drag Pilot 52

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Even at 60 knots over VY, we were still climbing at a rate that would shock the private students we’d just left below and behind in the pattern. With each wiggle and movement, the airplane bobbed accordingly, just dying to do something other than the relatively gentle climb I’d commanded for the last three minutes.

Aileron 52

Aileron Rudder Airplanes Knot 52

Pilot Institute

MAY 4, 2024

In the Cessna 172S Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH), the landing distance decreases by 10% for every 9 knots of headwind. For the Cessna 172, landing distance increases by 10% for every 2 knots of tailwind. For the Cessna 172S, we fly a short-field approach with full flaps at 61 knots.

Weight-Shift-Control 52

Weight-Shift-Control Runway Approach Crosswind 52

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

The weather briefing we had reviewed a half hour earlier promised a 20-knot headwind that would require two fuel stops on the 130-mile trip from our home airport in Kennett, Missouri (KTKX), to Little Rock Air Force Base (KLRF) in Arkansas. The windsock promised that getting the little yellow bird into the air would be a white-knuckle affair.

Runway 95

Runway Crosswind Rudder Pilot 95

Pilot Institute

JULY 12, 2024

Flying at 60 knots? You’ll have to determine the correct point for your particular airplane, but once you do, you can set up your downwind leg perfectly for any runway. For example, it’s good practice to add a few knots to V-ref when landing in gusty conditions. Keep the ailerons into the wind.

Descent 52

Descent Weight-Shift-Control Crosswind Runway 52

Pilot Institute

MARCH 29, 2024

The stall warning horn sounds at least 5 knots above the actual stall speed. Since you need to fly without triggering the warning, select a target airspeed of about 2 to 5 knots more. Your target airspeed should be 5 knots above the speed that triggers the stall warning horn. Turbulent air will require a larger airspeed margin.

Lift 52

Lift Rudder Drag AGL 52

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

While instructors idly watch, airplanes go off the runway, landings become too harsh, structure gets overstressed, and tolerances are exceeded. No flying in winds exceeding 10 knots, no chance of obscuring precipitation, no use of runways shorter than 5,000 feet, no risk of encountering darkness or lowering ceilings.

Runway 52

Runway Wind Shear Crosswind Ceiling 52

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

While instructors idly watch, airplanes go off the runway, landings become too harsh, structure gets overstressed, and tolerances are exceeded. No flying in winds exceeding 10 knots, no chance of obscuring precipitation, no use of runways shorter than 5,000 feet, no risk of encountering darkness or lowering ceilings.

Runway 52

Runway Wind Shear Crosswind Ceiling 52

AeroSavvy

AUGUST 20, 2021

A few years ago, I got the bug to fly small airplanes again. We fly our new-to-us Piper to Florida often (the airplane could probably find Orlando on its own), and we agreed it was time for something more adventurous. Our Aircraft Our family’s airplane is a 1976 Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six.

Density Altitude 52

Density Altitude OAT Airplanes Fixed Base Operator 52

Air Facts

JUNE 21, 2024

This school owned no airplanes—all the aircraft were “lease-backs,” by owners. On my one and only flight with the young flight school co-founder, he suddenly slammed the airplane into a 60-degree left bank and pulled aggressively, saying “What do you think of this ?’’ And a knot is 1.15 I thought he was studying, but nay.

Rudder 75

Rudder Crosswind Knot Airplanes 75

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Since then, the team has advanced the airplane into a kit, one made out of carbon fiber and incorporating more than 1400 hours of the prototype’s operation. But now they are, and as no other Experimental—or certified airplane for that matter—can do what the Gweduck can, it’s time to take a good look at the program.

Airplanes 72

Airplanes Rudder Knot Aileron 72

Plane and Pilot

DECEMBER 16, 2024

A strong or soft market overall can dramatically influence any given airplanes success, quite apart from how it looks or performs. Plus, you know, the airplanes were pretty OK. Planespotters note the F2’s separate ailerons and flaps, conventional tail. We had eight airplanes partially built so they had to be taken out too.

Rudder 71

Rudder Airplanes Aileron Crosswind 71

Vintage Aviation News

OCTOBER 18, 2024

It actually flew fine, and it flies like a normal airplane. Although it is sort of heavy on the ailerons,” Storo said. When the airplane is climbing and under control, you throttle back a little bit and then just trim it, and it flies nearly hands-off. “Coming back around, I’m usually at about 60 knots.

Airplanes 124

Airplanes Crosswind Tail Cockpit 124

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

The aging fleet flown by many operators is steadily racking up hours, imposing more and more maintenance burdens on 50-year-old airframes while production of new airplanes has slowed to a trickle, and the cost of the few available is high. A two-seat dedicated IFR training airplane hadn’t been certified since the Cessna 152 of 1978.

Knot 88

Knot Rudder Airplanes Gross Weight 88