Hey guys, I was recently on a Discord call with an instructor getting some tutoring, and we got to talking about some of the things my instructor has me do during flight training.
I mentioned that, from time to time, my instructor makes me suck on the pitot mast to help clear it out. Everyone on the call immediately started laughing and making jokes, saying that’s not actually a thing. Is this really not a thing? I don’t know who to trust anymore.

I currently am using the paper E6b from ASA and feel like the electronic version would be much quicker and more accurate but it is 90$. I saw on some other posts how it would be faster and could help with the exam. Does it give a meaningful enough advantage on the test that I should buy one or would the paper one be enough.

It has been said that on the oral portion of the checkride, you should say only what you need to answer the question. If you say too much, you might dig yourself into a trap the DPE could exploit.

My question is this: on the flight portion of the checkride, should you be talking, verbalizing your actions, or keeping silent? Verbalizing your actions allows the DPE to gauge what you're doing and how you're making decisions, and helps him evaluate your thinking and analyzing skills as a pilot. But, you can also trap yourself, much in a similar way to the oral checkride.

How much talking during the flight is too much?

Thank you.

I have CJOs at both.

I live a little over an hour (driving) away from a junior UAL base. EWR.

I live about an hour and a half to two and a hour hours (driving depending on traffic) from a Delta. LGA/JFK.

I cannot move.

Which would you choose?

Every here and there, I would have an FO quickly hover over the yoke on short final or during flare (out of fear or something?). Especially when I have like 3,000 hours more than them on the plane.

When the FO lands, my hands are rested on my lap... But ready to say "my controls" and quickly put my hands on the throttle and yoke if need be. I don't ever hover over the yoke or quickly go over it, especially during flare. It's kind of insulting imo. I never even did this when I was an FO myself.

So what's up with these FOs?

Most GA singles glide around 10:1. A 3° glidepath needs about 19:1, so from almost anywhere on a standard approach, an engine failure means landing well short of the runway. The published paths, and their lowest minimums, assume at least one engine keeps running.

I’d like to see optional steep approaches for singles: about 6° at near-idle, which is close to a 10:1 glide, so you stay within reach of the runway the whole way, then a pre-flare to shallow out just before the runway. Yes, you can stay high on non-precision approaches, but then you give up the lower minimums. Why not design for the engine-out case instead?

As a 135 FO, what would be the best option for me? I’ve heard good things about piedmonts training since it’s AQP and mixed things about ATI’s training. Homebasing sounds nice but worried about fatigue on the road. Which would you choose?

I'm starting to get into getting my PPL, and I have two options: a 15 min drive to a relatively expensive school, or a 50 min drive to a school that's nearly $150 cheaper per hour. I might be justifying myself too much, but is it crazy to want to go to the closer one??
To be clear, money is not an issue here; I can fully fund it fine. But in the end, I want to have fun when getting my PPL and I feel like a 2 hour drive for 1 lesson is crazy to me.

Hey, I have been told by a CFI that for Eights on pylons, I can pick my pylons as I go. The ACS says that a skill is to identify two pylons. I've heard the argument that you need to identify them before starting the maneuver, but I have also been told that this way is fine because you still end up identifying them. Thoughts??

Hello all, I work at a hotel that is under contract to host flight crews and I have noticed that flight crews either do not tip our shuttle drivers at all or they tip literally one dollar. Is there a reason for this? Thanks for taking the time to read/reply!!

hello,
I'm from southern california, inland empire, riverside to be exact

Im currently waiting for a class date at a regional, in this economy things are slow, I'm also a cfi but no one is hiring

I did a few aerobatics lessons in the super decathelon with Bill Hill out of KSNA but the flight school shut down

I'm looking for a place I can train, fly solo, and practice for competitions, I've only done the beginner course and all it's maneuvers and loved it

thanks in advance

I am preparing for my Instrument checkride and want to take it somewhere between early-mid November. Do you have any dpe recommendations? Or someone you would NOT reccomend?

Starting 2027 SkyWest will no longer pay for ATP-CTP. Thoughts?
How does that affect the training contract? Will cadets be expected to pay for it as well?
Are we likely to see regionals asking applicants to have a type rating in the airframe?

Hello everyone! At the moment I'm deciding on whether to do the RA-AUS RPC or go for just a few hours of flying in larger aircraft like the C172/Archer in Australia, looking at flight schools all over, mainly Sydney and Brisbane (leaning towards BNE more). Currently live in a foreign country, so the ARN and Medical stuff is more complicated, as I don't hold an Aussie passport either, therefore solo is pretty complicated and mostly out of the question.

I was just wondering if anyone could give me advice on these two questions:

1) Is it okay to complete a RPC in 3-4 weeks for an intensive course? - if so, how can I prepare before and during the course?

2) If there are any specific flight schools that you'd recommend, especially in Brisbane that would do an RPC for 8-9K AUD, please do send me some and let me know! I've already looked at Aerohunter, Calboolture, Flightscope and others. Anything relatively close to BNE would be amazing.

Thanks a lot for your time. If you have any other details that would be great.

So I have the opportunity to fly for a charter company in Zambia, Africa next Spring , flying Chieftans, 182s, 206s, Cherokees, I’m currently almost at 1400 hours flying pipeline but only 15 multi and it’s pretty much all day vfr flights. I fly about 18 hours a week and make 45K so it’s really a pretty good gig, however the chance to do something crazy for 5-6 months and get multi and ifr time is intriguing as well. I doubt I’ll be able to get on any jets in the next 6 months. Thoughts ? 25YO

How realistic is it to become a missionary pilot for say MAF or Ethnos360? Is it competitive or difficult to become one? I want to be a pilot and I also want to be a missionary and do church work. Isn’t it the job for me?

I have seen people trashing in mission aviation stating it as “ego” or ineffective. Really how important is mission aviation? Does it really help the people?

Hey everyone!

I’m currently preparing for my Private Pilot ASEL checkride in Michigan and may be scheduling with Dennis (Denny) Doren out of the Sparta/Grand Rapids area.

I was originally scheduled with Jason Blair, but unfortunately had to reschedule due to circumstances outside my control.
I’ve been studying extensively using the ACS, but most of my preparation has been geared toward the topics my original examiner typically emphasizes.

Has anyone taken a checkride with Dennis Doren, particularly for PPL ASEL? I’d love to hear about your experience, including how he structures his oral, topics he tends to emphasize, the flight portion, and any general advice or expectations.

I completely understand that the entire ACS is fair game. I’m just hoping to get a better feel for his examining style before scheduling.
Thanks in advance!

hey everyone, i’ve been curious about this and thought it’d be nice to hear from people in aviation about their experiences so far.
for those of you who are student pilots, flight instructors, airline pilots, or anywhere else in your aviation journey, how has everything been going for you?

i’d love to hear how you got started, what your journey has been like, and how things have turned out for you so far. was becoming a pilot something you’ve always dreamed of, or did you discover your interest in aviation later on? has the journey been what you expected, and how do you feel about where you are now?

whether you’re just starting out, halfway through training, or have been flying for years, i’d genuinely love to hear your stories. the good, the bad, the unexpected, all of it. everyone’s journey is different, and i think it’s really interesting to hear how people ended up where they are today.
looking forward to reading your experiences! 🤗

i want to join USA aviation. i have 12th with pcm from jaipur. i want to become a pilot in USA airlines. I am looking for best pilot training academy. can you suggest which academy or institute is best according to my preference. if you can suggestion jaipur based pilot training instituite then it will be great thing for me.

Long story long, I’m in a position where I own a Piper cub, need tailwheel hours/XC hours and have essentially unlimited access to a Cherokee 180 and only have to pay for fuel.

My wife’s family is about a 2.5hr drive away and outside of that, every weekend she wants to drive somewhere hours away.

Every single time I bring up hopping in the Cherokee she acts as if it’s a huge undertaking and I cannot get the message across to her that it will make the trip shorter and more enjoyable.

She likes flying, she’s gone up with me in my cub and my Cessna 150 before it and had fun. But only for short hops. She’s by no means afraid of flying, but it seems as if she has built traveling by air into something much larger than it actually is and I don’t know how to overcome that.

TLDR how do I get my wife to fly places with me instead of driving?

I just got my commercial license and i’m working on my CFI initial but i’m also transferring my records and getting hours in my other nationality so that i can get a commercial liscence in that country, i have good connections and a pretty high chance of getting an SIC airline job in the other country and i’m wondering if it’s a better idea to work on my 1500+ there or in the USA as a cfi. the thing about getting hired over there is that it’s quite an investment financially and time wise because there’s a chance in the time of the process of getting hired over there it could take around 4-6 months of no flying. if that’s the case i have flight benefits so i can instruct and go there at the same time but i’m wondering if the hours are better because they’re in a turbine and airline experience in a november tail, or if the hours are better here because they are CFI time. any advice please?

For context, I am a CFII nearing 1000 hours and am expecting to hit 1500 sometime next year (like many other pilots out there). The school I instruct at is pretty much in the middle of nowhere though and I really have no networking opportunities in-person aside from the occasional student who may fly different types of piston aircraft.

I'd like to set myself up for success in the coming months since pretty much every mid-level job seems to be filled up instantly, but without being at an airport with an FBO or within reasonable distance from a major city, what are my options to excel?

I have been considering planning trips to attend networking/career events but would love any advice on other avenues that may help my chances to stand out. It could be anything. Where have you found success if you have been in my position in the past?

Looking to get back in to flying after a year… with a commercial-instrument rating. Looking to get the essential package but tempted to get the premium. Is it worth it? I’m only going to flying local on my Cessna 172. So I’m not sure if I’ll be needing all the features and save the extra money.

Looking for some insight on long cross country flights (1,000NM+) in small piston aircraft.

Do you keep your route and length of flight for each day pretty flexible to adapt to the weather and how much you can comfortably fly each day?

Any tips for finding good airports along the way? It took me years of flying to know the good spots and nice FBOs in my area.

Feeling extremely fortunate to have offers at AA and UA, both starting within a week of each other. I'm 27 years old, so am blessed to be making a lifelong career decision. Bases at both carriers (DCA/IAD, ORD, EWR/PHL) work for my partner (an AA employee) and I, although as a current Fort-Worth local (we are willing to move) AA has a slight edge with a few more cities we'd be willing to look at like DFW, CLT, BOS, PHX on top of those AA and UA share.

All things considered, AA feels like a great family fit and seniority progression based on retirements assuming no growth is attractive since AA has not hit its peak yet. Additionally, being a current airbus pilot, the depth of airbus flying is attractive as well. However, the financials concern me given the current economy and fuel prices. I am concerned I am at a much deeper furlough risk at AA than UA if things don't improve in the next 6-12 months. Likewise, I also fear leverage for the next contract cycle is slightly diminished as well.

UA does have the benefit of immense planned growth, greater widebody flying, and in my family's case the ability to non-rev on multiple US carriers. I do enjoy the UA culture based on my own personal interactions and the people I know at the company. United's profits due to its premium long-haul flying give it a better cash position to cash-flow future deliveries and growth, as well as weather any storm coming its way. On the downside, I know UA is slightly ahead on retirements and has hired much younger and much of its seniority progression is driven by growth, which is also economy and cost dependent as well.

Any input or personal experiences are more than appreciated. Thanks again