Search results

  1. FlightInsight

    Practice FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Tests

    Here's the link - the FAA has sample questions (though no answers) for many of their Knowledge Tests. https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/test_questions/
  2. FlightInsight

    Practice FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Tests

    Using the question bank released from the FAA in Oct 2018, I've put together a free online practice test for the Private Pilot - Airplane exam. It's a work in progress, but each question will very soon have detailed answer explanations, and more questions modeled on the real thing will be coming...
  3. FlightInsight

    Wind Shear in Temperature Inversions

    During the day, ground heating causes thermals which have the effect of mixing surface air with winds further aloft. Typically, surface winds are a bit weaker and veer inwards toward low pressure due to a weakened Coriolis Effect. After the sun sets and thermals dissipate, there is less mixing...
  4. FlightInsight

    What happens to an altimeter in cold weather? I put mine in the freezer to find out

    Great point. This is where I disclaim that I'm not a meterologist, but a pilot. I do know that altimeter setting, and SLP, are derived two different ways using formulas to determine what that "bottom of the hole" barometer would read. I understand SLP takes temp effects into consideration...
  5. FlightInsight

    What happens to an altimeter in cold weather? I put mine in the freezer to find out

    This is an interesting idea. If you dug a hole at the airport down to sea level and put a barometer at the bottom, what would it read? For us sea level pilots, this may be tough to answer, but let's imagine we're in Denver (the mile high city). If the altimeter setting is the same as the...
  6. FlightInsight

    What happens to an altimeter in cold weather? I put mine in the freezer to find out

    I had a hard time figuring out why the altimeter does what it does in cold weather. Hopefully this video clarifies things. Dan, CFI
  7. FlightInsight

    Temperature, density altitude, and performance

    I've just uploaded a video that explains this concept. To show how temperature affects the altimeter, I put mine in the freezer and in the oven! Enjoy! Dan, CFI
  8. FlightInsight

    Place to find old approach plates?

    Not that I’m aware. The FAA does publish amendments to its instrument procs to show changes over time. You might start there. https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/ Dan, CFI
  9. FlightInsight

    Vy and power available curve

    As others have said, brake horsepower available is a constant - 160 bhp for a Lycoming O-320 for example. But thrust horsepower, something propeller aircraft need, changes with airspeed due to propeller efficiencies at different airspeeds. When you start your takeoff roll, the aircraft is at a...
  10. FlightInsight

    Temperature, density altitude, and performance

    The altimeter measures the pressure placed on it by air molecules above it. We calibrate the altimeter by telling it what the sea level atmospheric pressure is at a nearby station. As temperatures increase and decrease, the air molecules above us expand and contract, but since the total number...
  11. FlightInsight

    Takeoff under the hood?

    I've never done this. If I ever did do a takeoff under the hood, or a night takeoff over water or unlighted terrain, it would ONLY be to show the dangers of doing so. Part 91 doesn't have takeoff minimums (unless you've accepted a SID that has minimums), but in flying what keeps you legal...
  12. FlightInsight

    Struggling to Land the Plane

    As others have said here, figuring out how to land a plane is one of the toughest things you'll ever do. I put it up there with quitting smoking and getting my CPA license in terms of life milestones. As a CFI, I've seen hundreds of students in your exact position - don't know if they'll ever...
  13. FlightInsight

    CFI Here - Cross Country Flight Planning Question

    This is one of the trickiest decisions a CFI makes in my opinion. Teaching the old "paper and compass" method simply because it's the way we learned to navigate ignores the fact that almost everything we do in our lives nowadays involves GPS and some form of tech assist. Would I send my son or...
Back
Top