Pilot Institute

MARCH 28, 2025

The exhaust coming out of aircraft engines looks pretty dangerous, generating huge amounts of thrust and pushing back tons of hot air. This is called lift. Wingtip vortices are a byproduct of lift. Once the wing stops producing lift, the vortices dissipate instantly. Whats Happening Inside the Vortex?

Turbulence 97

Turbulence Lift Drag Runway 97

Fear of Landing

APRIL 19, 2024

The operator had a surveillance camera inside the hangar to capture the work and the preflight inspections. Feather the blades to generate lift from the upward flow of air during the descent (instead of pushing the air downwards in powered flight). This accident led the operator to revisit their maintenance protocols.

Torque 98

Torque Indicated Airspeed Tail Knot 98

Plane and Pilot

AUGUST 11, 2024

Navy had equipped both the USS Akron and Macon airships with a hangar deck and trapezes to carry and launch Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes. This operation was carried out routinely with the little fighters launching from the airship, flying their mission, and then hooking up on a trapeze that lifted them inside the hull.

Tail 85

Tail Jet Pilot Turbulence 85

Professional Pilot

JANUARY 2, 2025

Aircraft on the ground downwind from an eruption, even if hangared, should be cleaned frequently to prevent corrosion. The real danger is that once the ash is lifted into the flight levels, strong winds can spread it thousands of miles downwind. Engines should be dry cranked to ventilate them before startup.

Pitot Tube 40

Pitot Tube Weather Pilot NOTAMs 40

AeroSavvy

AUGUST 20, 2021

More air molecules in engine cylinders allow the engine to produce more power; more air molecules moving across the propellor blades and wings means more efficient thrust and lift. As altitude increases, air molecules spread out, resulting in less power and lift. It was rewarding to see the aircraft perform exactly as expected.

Density Altitude 52

Density Altitude OAT Airplanes Fixed Base Operator 52

Air Facts

JULY 22, 2024

Each day, 12 students spent two hours in a fabrication hangar where they cut/folded/riveted a sheet of aluminum into a wing component. The Four Forces of Flight (Lift, Thrust, Drag & Gravity) obey Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. Young Aviators got students interested in aviation and STEM. Two hours were allocated to flying.

Lift 98

Lift Knot Airfoil Airplanes 98

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. Can you fly a zero-thrust, single-engine approach to minimums today? That optimistic outlook doesn’t apply to pilots with rusty skills.

Density Altitude 60

Density Altitude Airplanes Wind Shear Pilot 60