Recent content by Hildy

Great information. Thank you.

You're probably used to ATC saying "frequency change approved" when you cancel VFR flight following or exit a Class C, etc. Once you're established on an instrument approach procedure into a non-towered airport ATC will approve you to change to the advisory frequency. That's your cue to change...

I'm looking for a good online ground school for the CFI certificate. I may be getting ahead of myself just a bit, as I'm only getting started on the commercial certificate, but I'd like to get a jump on the CFI information. I should note that I'm not just looking for written test prep. I...

Thanks everyone, for the great advice. The plan is to load up the kids in the Cherokee, fly along the lakeshore to Waukegan, and then get a crew car ride or a taxi or something to Six Flags Great America for the day. For the return trip there's a Jorjo-Five departure out of Waukegan, right over...

Oh, yeah. I definitely would use flight following. I thought about a practice run with an instructor before taking my kids as well. I'm only a 190-hour pilot.

I've been looking at the "Chicago skyline tour" up the lakeshore at 1,500 feet to stay under the Bravo. I'd be in a single-engine, fixed gear plane. It's a popular route, so I assume there are lots of old pros here who have done it a time or two. Does that route offer any options at all to...

I fly a Hershey bar Cherokee 180. Normal technique I was taught was to keep around 1600 RPM and crab into the crosswind all the way until ground effect and then smoothly enter the sideslip and pull the power out during the round out. If there's any crosswind at all, the extra drag from the...

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/61.217 That link is for the recency requirements for a ground instructor. It's a little bit different from other certificates and ratings in that you're not automatically current when you get the certificate. If you haven't given ground or flight...

My club recently got a GTN 650, G5 HSI, G5 PFD, and GTX 345 all installed in our Cherokee 180 for $28,300. We also got a few obsolete odds and ends removed from the panel, as you are doing. Labor was $9,000 of that price. The shop was Flightstar at KCMI. We don't have an autopilot, so...

Yes! I went through exactly this same phase, though for me it happened at a few more hours of experience. I think that means you're learning faster than I did. I suspect that the cause of this sensation is simply that as we get more comfortable with landings in general, we start having time...

I recently got my AGI and IGI. There are no experience requirements and no endorsement required. You just show up at the testing center and take the tests, then take your results to the FSDO. You DO need an endorsement once you get to the FSDO though. I did the Gleim test prep and printed...

I recently got my ppl and ir at a college program. They had a requirement that all student solos be "supervised" by an instructor on the ground. That wasn't just for student pilots. Even students working on the commercial certificate had that requirement. It didn't necessarily have to be...