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Tough crowd. They are just trying to help you get staged for your departure. As said before, just give your best guess, and as the time draws near firm up the time. On service. At one of my frequent FBO’s where I am known by name, I called in to have my plane ramped. Was a voice I didn’t...

Nothing out performs the normal envelope of a turboprop. Here is going down 2250 fpm at 96 knots pitched down 12.5 degrees at flight idle. On this flight I was held up on downwind to let an F35 pass under me, cleared to land and lost the almost 4000 feet required in under 2 minutes maintaining...

Some of the GA aircraft like the Piper M600 use the radar altimeter as part of the autoland system. Although the system has the capability to still autoland with some degraded systems per the POH. Not sure what losing or corrupting the radar altimeter might do. Maybe the landings would be as bad...

Doesn’t look like that should’ve been a fatal crash. Hopefully if it was equipped with shoulder belts they were on, some type of aviation belts let you disconnect the shoulder belt in flight. I am not a fan of those, as it’s probably pretty easy to forget to reattach them. It could also be...

Or if you ever had it. The diagnosis is challenging to make and requires more than an LP, maybe the MRI and eye exams and such were done. But while not an AME, doubt an AME would let that slip by without a neurologist saying you were diagnosed in error. But if you are serious about a class I...

Sticks give you more control, faster response and in unpowered controls more leverage. Just more performance and feel. Front yokes are second best for performance, followed by side yokes which give the least performance and rely on some of the weakest muscles in your arms. As far as convenience...

that is a lot of time. I fly to my job quite a bit, for me it is 15, 15, 15, 15, all of which is pretty laid back. 80 mph on the interstate, dry and daytime, I find pretty stressful. Add dark, rain, ice or snow and it is way stressful. The flight on the other hand is relaxing. Would almost...

Here is the performance table for the M350. Should see 1150 fpm climb ISA at sea level. Have to remember People are confusing cruise climbs with max climbs. The Mirage in the flight levels will be climbing at a higher true airspeed than most high performance pistons will be cruising. Not...

Piper has gone back and forth on the 42 versus 35 climb. Trade more stress for a shorter duration. I think both are fine. I would usually climb 35 MP once clear of obstacles, a little over 1000 fpm at a mid weight. If in moderate or heavy ice, I would climb 42 inches until out of ice. There is...

Travel John, chemical absorbing packs. Problem solved. And if you are traveling over hostile weather, hostile terrain, or just want to skip a customs stop on the way somewhere, that range is great utility.

A certified plane is safe in that it was tested to almost all conceivable conditions within the certified envelope. You give up that guarantee of safety when you go outside the CG or weight. The test pilots that helped get the plane certified may know where those limits are, and why, but that...

65 Knots? That is barely relevant to most planes that people are flying where best glide speeds are much higher than that. Drag is exponential, not linear with wind speed.

Unfortunately this not correct. Even if your engine breaks right at the propellor shaft, that windmilling propellor if it stayed attached will be a giant air brake.

Even if there were no engine attached you would have substantial drag. The helicopter example provided shows how you can auto rotate a turbine bringing a helicopter down fairly under control, and turboprops like a PT6 which have no mechanical linkage to the compressor have an amazing amount of...

I suspect given the age and size of that radar that what you are looking at is an actual beam width far wider than the theoretical beam width. The scatter and side lobes are likely reflecting back. While perhaps not worthless, I would suspect the radar is very very suboptimal by todays...

Pretty good list. Just a minor addition, when climbing in a canyon, when you fly up the side, fly the windward side. Helps in 2 ways. You get a natural updraft, and if you have to turn back into the canyon you are turning into a headwind with a decreased turn radius. That knowledge may have...

She was very experienced, but sounds like most of her flight time was in rotors. Not sure how much of that applies to fixed wings.

Last week, crossed a line with some tops 55,000. You can turn on cells, and it gives tops and cell movement, direction and speed. At 30,000 feet, was looking them in the belly button ;-). This was a frontal driven system parked over northern FL. Crossed it both directions. Certainly with care...

I do the opposite. At night over the desert, I am not much interested in what is outside the cockpit. If I lose control it is more likely I was confusing some stars for ground lights, or some ground lights for stars. I keep the lights comfortable. I consider it instrument conditions. Climbing...

In most applications the Garmin syn viz, makes a little difference but not as much as you might hope. And the newer ones do show powerlines and other obstructions. however if you do use it right, it can safely bring you down 0/0. I have made dozens of crossings across the Rockies at night and...