AV Web

OCTOBER 8, 2024

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has responded to numerous requests from members for advice on how best to prepare an aircraft for surviving extreme weather, such as the hurricanes that are savaging the U.S. Check the Pilots Operating Handbook for best advice on whether to set the brakes or not.

Pitot Tube 78

Pitot Tube Aileron Lift Hangar 78

Northstar VFR

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Friends and fellow pilots who had gone before me and passed their commercial checkrides all commented that the commercial checkride was the easiest regarding the oral exam and the practical (flying) portion. About halfway through the conversation, the examiner started asking about the pitot-static system.

Longitudinal Axis 59

Longitudinal Axis Pitot Tube Checkride Pilot 59

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Out in the practice area, I did some of my favorite beyond-ACS but still normal category exercises—alternating steep turns with full aileron deflection, extended low speed flight, and Dutch rolls to 45-degree bank each way, again with full aileron deflection. I’m focusing on the old pilot part, not the bold pilot.

Pitot Tube 61

Pitot Tube Approach Aileron Instrument Landing System 61

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

It can also disrupt sensors needed for flight safety, like the pitot tubes. If ice blocks a pitot tube, your aircraft’s instruments will provide inaccurate airspeed readings. Most aircraft are equipped with a pitot heater to prevent icing in the pitot tube.

Pitot Tube 52

Pitot Tube Drag Lift Airfoil 52

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Sometimes it’s emotional—the Beech Starship, what few of them are still in the wild, inevitably wow viewers of both the pilot and nonpilot persuasion. In fact, the unusual pitot-tube location—it peeks out from the center of the prop spinner—was chosen to reduce fuselage-to-wing connections. But successful? Not at all.

Airplanes 88

Airplanes Knot Pitot Tube Gross Weight 88

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Sometimes it’s emotional—the Beech Starship, what few of them are still in the wild, inevitably wow viewers of both the pilot and nonpilot persuasion. In fact, the unusual pitot-tube location—it peeks out from the center of the prop spinner—was chosen to reduce fuselage-to-wing connections. But successful? Not at all.

Airplanes 80

Airplanes Knot Pitot Tube Gross Weight 80