Mac, a private pilot in California asks: With the cost of airplane rentals so high, do you have any tips on the best way to maximize hours to keep current? Absolutely, says our expert: Plane sharing.
Questions from the Cockpit
Questions from the Cockpit: Unthawing TKS
Most of us know TKS is deicing fluid for our airplanes, but do you know where it came from and what TKS stands for?
Questions from the Cockpit: Questioning the Final Flag
An anonymous an air race fan asks: As an air racer yourself, do you agree with the decision at the 2023 Reno Air Races to cancel the rest of the races after the tragic crash following the T-6 Gold race?
Questions from the Cockpit: Color me confused
Sammi, a student pilot in Arizona, writes: Next door to my flight school is a ritzy FBO (where I score my morning coffee) that has one of those electric maps in the lobby with colored lights that show the flight conditions across the nation – green for VFR, blue for MVFR, red for IFR, and magenta for LIFR. So cool and so beautiful! But…also so confusing. Uncle Google gave me the ceilings and vis’es for the various flight conditions, but I can’t seem to find them in the regs. What’s the story here?
Questions from the Cockpit: Should there be a biennial driving review?
My mother, a student pilot, asked: What do you think of requiring drivers to get a biennial driving review?
Questions from the Cockpit: Burning off the fog
Denise, working on her private ticket in California, writes: Help me out! I’m getting ready to take my written, and I keep mixing up my fog types. Is there any clever way to sort them out?
Questions from the Cockpit: Buckle up, baby!
Gracie, a private pilot in Montana, writes: I took a flight with a fellow pilot the other day, and he took the time to give me the flight attendant speech. It got me wondering, why the stupid seat belt speech? I mean, I know it’s the law, but — really? — who doesn’t know how to unbuckle a seat belt?
Questions from the Cockpit: What’s so mean about mean sea level?
Cassandra, working on her Sport Pilot ticket on the Florida coast, writes: I’ve just started my flight training, and have learned about the two different ways that altitude is expressed: AGL and MSL. Above Ground Level is self-explanatory, but I’m having a harder time wrapping my head around Mean Sea Level. I mean, I get that it’s the altitude above sea level, but what’s the “mean” all about?
Questions from the Cockpit: ADM for Dummies
The dad of an airline-bound student pilot writes: I know I probably shouldn’t, but I find myself reading about pretty much every small airplane crash online, and much of the time I find myself shaking my head and asking myself, “What was the pilot thinking?” So that’s my question: Don’t they teach pilots to think in flight school? Or is it all just about how to operate the controls?