Air Facts

AUGUST 5, 2024

A friend reminds you of a couple additional nuggets of due diligence to be reckoned with—a hangar and insurance. Luckily, your friend just so happens to have a friend with some hangar space available at your home airport in Pueblo, Colorado. The weather is VMC but it’s hot, and the density altitude is really creeping up there.

Density Altitude 95

Density Altitude Ceiling Runway Weather 95

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

We didn’t have a heated hangar, but our chief instructor pointed out that, if we did, melted water could collect in the control surfaces, waiting to refreeze once the plane left the hangar and put the control surfaces out of balance. Otherwise, the standard weather forecast is “rain turning to showers, chance of sun breaks.”

Knot 68

Knot Weather Density Altitude True Airspeed 68

AeroSavvy

AUGUST 20, 2021

ADS-B provides real-time traffic information and almost-live NEXRAD radar and weather data. I spent a few months researching aircraft performance and high altitude airport flying techniques. Density Altitude Piston engines, wings, and propellers lose efficiency as they climb to less dense air at higher altitudes.

Density Altitude 52

Density Altitude OAT Airplanes Fixed Base Operator 52

Air Facts

MAY 24, 2024

Centerline, centerline, centerline Air Facts Journal It was a beautiful May day as we grabbed the tow bar to pull the 1981 Cessna 182 out of the hangar. Even though this was late May, it was early enough in the day that the temperatures and density altitude hadn’t climbed to outrageous heights—yet.

Aileron 94

Aileron Crosswind Knot Runway 94

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

We didn’t have a heated hangar, but our chief instructor pointed out that, if we did, melted water could collect in the control surfaces, waiting to refreeze once the plane left the hangar and put the control surfaces out of balance. Otherwise, the standard weather forecast is “rain turning to showers, chance of sun breaks.”

Knot 61

Knot Weather Density Altitude True Airspeed 61

Plane and Pilot

JULY 2, 2024

And the finest example of a Cirrus SR22 is not going to want to lift a full load out of a backcountry strip on a warm afternoon with a density altitude reading five digits. You should go only if the weather is as benign as forecast, good alternates exist, and you feel good about doing it.

Density Altitude 53

Density Altitude Airplanes Pilot Wind Shear 53

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 29, 2024

The airplane’s engine, propeller, and wings, which have struggled all summer against the ravages of high temperatures and density altitude, are now in their happy place. Ramps need plowing, the T-hangar door is frozen closed, the fuel truck won’t start, and there is a waiting list for deicing.

Ceiling 98

Ceiling Airplanes Weather Density Altitude 98