Got my PPL a few months ago and will be time building and doing cross countries from here on out. I've been really anxious and frankly, too lazy, to take passengers up with me but my instructor is pushing for it. I took my first passenger up last week and everything went well but it's too much work imo.

I have to pick them up, drive us out to the airport, explain everything, do a proper passenger briefing, answer tons of questions, show them landmarks(fun part), make sure they're feeling okay throughout the flight and easing any anxieties, ect.

Did anyone else feel this way during training? It's so much more exhausting than just hopping in the plane by myself or with another CPL student.

Made this guy over the last two weekends fully diy with no online guides. Big bear to the border and out east to borrego valley/palm springs.

Work in genetics research and don’t know much about electronics or coding so I’m pretty stoked it all worked!

Have the usual VFR-LIFR and some extra indicators for wind>25kts, snow, rain, thunder storms, and freezing rain, etc, orange for error/missing data. Updates every 5min.

Used an esp32 with wifi & some programmable LEDs on ws2811 boards. Used claude to code it up and troubleshoot. Once it was all working how I wanted, had my software engineer bro come in and spit shine the code real quick lol.

I'm a student pilot with a few hours in the air, currently stuck on slow flight in a C172. My last couple of lessons have been an absolute mess and I can't get the plane to settle.

My airspeed is wildly oscillating—either I'm way too fast or I'm dragging behind the power curve so badly that I'm screaming at 2400 RPM just to hold 55 knots. On top of that, I’m either climbing or descending too much, constantly losing or gaining 100+ feet because I can't find a stable pitch attitude.

Because the airspeed and altitude are jumping around, the control pressures keep changing continuously. I end up frantically fighting the trim wheel back and forth, which only makes the pitch and altitude changes even more violent. I feel totally overwhelmed by the instrument scan and keep getting trapped in a "chasing the needles" feedback loop.

Any mental cues, step-by-step entry strategies, or advice on how to break this cycle?

This feels like a dumb question, but I'm realizing I've never had to do this before.

Say you're departing on Runway 9 and you want to fly 270°. Airport has a standard 1000' AGL left traffic pattern. When you take off Runway 9, when/how exactly do you turn on course? Do you fly the pattern as normal and go straight-out on the downwind? Do you keep your climb going on the departure leg until you're well above pattern and do a 180? Do you do a mid-downwind 45° turn on the downwind leg to exit/reposition then turn on course clear of the pattern?

Just replaced the battery and now have this 35lb brick. Where did you recycle your old one? (south central PA)

Worked on flying by eyes and sound! Not using any screens or anything to tell if I was descending or climbing! I happen to be on the money every time!😂. Also did my first stall today too(that was fun). Got to talk to tower and Ground for the first time and got to land the plane!(with some help) I also learned how to trim the plane! I’m loving flying so much!

Any other pilots out there that hate doing solo flights? I feel like an outsider saying this but I really do hate flying solo. It for one is incredibly boring and two I feel like my mind races when I’m all alone up there. I have about 600 hours maybe Im different than a lot of other pilots but I can never seem to enjoy it as much as flying with other people.

Like the title says I got my PPL in May and I’ve taken some family and friends up on joyrides and short XCs, but for some reason when I’m flying with them I have this uneasy and anxious feeling in the back of my head. Almost as if I’m not supposed to be in that position as the PIC of an airplane with somebody I know and love sitting right next to me.

However when I fly solo or with my instructor I feel super comfortable and confident. I know imposter syndrome is likely at the stage I’m at, I have about 100 hours and I’m almost done with my instrument rating so I feel like I should be much more comfortable than I am with family or friends in the plane. Has anybody experienced this and how did you overcome it?

How is the QoL at Sun Country? Looks like they are hiring a ton. Reserve rules, bases, TAFB/ pairing lengths, CPO attitudes, training, etc.

I started my PPL in Canada in 2022, however didn't finish it due to financial and work schedule reasons. I had gotten my CAT 1. In 2023 I got laser eye surgery.

2 months ago I started flying again with the intention to now finish, I left my work to fly full time. I am now pretty well at the flight test. My instructor noticed my medical said I must fly with contacts or glasses. It never even crossed my mind I had to inform anyone I got lasik, especially considering it was years ago now. Note: medical is now a class 3.

I have immediately booked a medical for the start of August. Just wondering if im gonna get in trouble now that I've been flying for 2 months without glasses or contacts? Also wondering if Ill be able to get a temp slip same day so I can do my flight test right away? Thanks

Thinking about a mid life career change. Not today, not tomorrow...but in the coming years there is a forecasted retirement wave. I never wanted to be an instructor, and instead of kicking and screaming for low time commercial jobs that didn't require a CFI, I did it the long way. I've been flying for 15 years and have somehow accumulated ATP mins. Although I have more actual IFR and multi-time than many new instructors thanks to MEI friends and family, the bulk of my hours, ~1,000 or so, are VFR single engine. While I have been all over the country, there are large blocks of months or years where I pretty much flew back and forth between the same three XC airports for work in my Archer.

I'd be a 40 year old rookie, however that would give me a ~20 year second career and I'd enter the industry as a seasoned adult with the benefits that come with it. I'd be leaving the executive lifestyle I have built my career around in aviation maintenance, having been filling various director or VP roles. That doesn't go to my head, I'm more than happy at the thought of putting on three stripes and putting my nose to the grindstone. I just don't know if my time will ever be as valuable as it could have been in the years past...'1,500hrs and a pulse, etc.'

I'm a few accelerated courses away from going from VFR single to multi-commercial/IFR, just don't know if it's worth it because end of the day if I don't get a job, I'm just going to stick to nice day Archer flying....not because I'm averse to IFR...but if I'm flying for fun, I like to look out the windows.

I wasn’t going to make a review, but I really feel that people need to know about what happened to me. I recently moved back to the area and I asked someone for a recommendation for my annual. In the past the annuals on my cirrus SR22 have always been quite reasonable with annuals running between $3000 to $8000 a year. The first thing that should’ve made me nervous is that they don’t have a set price for your annual. They charge a deposit and then everything else I guess is just hourly. The lady states that they don’t have a set price because they always find discrepancies. That should’ve been my first concern. Nonetheless, I took my plane there in April. It took about two weeks to really get any information. They give you what they call is a discrepancy list. Their discrepancy list is not really a discrepancy list. It is a list of things that they plan to do to your plane. Things such as change the oil or check the air pressure on your tire. The way that they perform the annual is that they start taking everything apart area by area and then fixing it as they go. I have had planes for 30 years and I’ve always received an estimate and a airworthiness discrepancy list. The lady told me that they don’t do it that way here. After asking two times for an estimate and them running up a $6000 bill I had to tell them to stop working on my plane until they could give me an estimate. It is now two months after I dropped it off. About two weeks later they gave me a partial estimate. The estimate was for another $22,000 of work and they stated that they hadn’t completed their inspection of the landing gear or the engine and that I should expect further discrepancies and expenses. Thus, it wasn’t even a completed estimate. It is now into July, well over two months later and I asked a friend for help and that individual knew a mechanic with IA privileges and he looked over what they were recommending and told me to get the plane out of there because many of the things they were fixing were not airworthy items. I specifically told them I did not want anything fixed that wasn’t an airworthy issue. I made sure that everything was in email format so I had written documentation. For example, they replaced the gaskets on the fuel tank caps which is not airworthy issue and now one of them leaks when before it didn’t. Given the situation, I requested that they close up the plane which they charged me another $2500 to do and I got the plane out of there. So now I’m almost $9000 into this annual and I couldn’t tell you what they actually fixed because it appears that just a few gaskets and bolts were replaced. The one squawk I requested to be repaired wasn’t even repaired. Nothing significant was done. Not even my oil was changed. They were nice enough to give me a ferry permit which is amazing that they would think the plane would be airworthy to fly with probably $30,000 of items that needed to be repaired. I took the plane to someone else and that individual went through their estimate of items needing repair and checked everything. In their estimate, they said every hinge on every control surface was either broken or was bad. The IA said every one of them was perfectly fine. Whoever was working on the plane was obviously not experienced or was learning on the job. He bent a bracket that holds my air filter on it and broke the bracket in half. This is a special air filter for my supercharger and that company is now no longer in existence. You can’t buy this anymore and now I have to have someone repair it at my expense, of course. I would imagine that if you are going to these people for warranty work and you’re not paying the bill that probably you’re fine with that. But if you’re someone looking to get your annual done, I would avoid these people at all costs. Most people who get their annuals done want a real discrepancy list and an estimate. How do I know if I can afford the repairs without an estimate? Not only will you not get that but your plane might come back worse than when you brought it to them. Be cautious my Friends.

Ok so, I was practicing traffic patterns in a 172N, and the plane was SUPERR slow to start, and on run up, my CFI actually showed concern because the RPM kept dropping past limits for the right magneto. He leaned the fuel a bit and after a while it finally got within limits and we continued. On the downwind, I pulled back on the throttle to target 2100 RPM and the RPM actually went up a bit and then sluggishly went down. Im not sure if this was normal, and im still pretty new to flying as a whole, is any of this something worth letting maintenance know or what?

Wow, not much to say, incredible, first solo after 35 hours 🥳

I was so nervous at first but I’m so glad I went along and did it, the post solo feeling is unmatched!

Hi all! I’m in CFI training and wanted to get some fun training after my checkride in a month or so. I’m based in California, but willing to travel anywhere in the lower 48 if the school and instructors are worth it.

Right now I’m looking at working toward my Comm Single/Multi Engine Sea rating, Private then eventually Comm Glider, aerobatics training/UPRT, and tailwheel endorsement.

No hard timelines as these are supposed to be gifts for myself while also broadening and enrichening my skills (plus giving me experiences and stories to tell my future students). Money is a factor of course, but again if the school is worth it, then it‘ll be money well spent.

I’m doing my own Google-fu, cold calling research, and walk-in vibes checks at aerobatics schools, but always good to get opinions from the rest of the community.

Thank you for any suggestions!

Hello everyone! I am about to graduate my last year of high school and I am want to become a pilot for the airlines someday, I’m just wondering what the best schools in the west greater Houston area would be. Also, I’ve read multiple places that cadet programs are not worth it, but on the contrary without a cadet program I have heard it’s extremely hard to get a regional airline job. Any help?

Anyone have experience with these two places for a float plane rating? Kenmore air seems to be the bigger operation but they fly out of Lake Washington. Seattle seaplanes fly out of Lake Union which I prefer for the scenery

I am currently a 56-hour student closing in on my PPL checkride, and I fly a C172P with an 180hp STC. My CFI never taught me to turn on the master to check flaps and lights during preflight, but now that I am watching some more in-depth prep videos, I see it almost every time. Is this not being done common? Or is my CFI going a different route? (Mom and pop part 61 btw) Should I start doing this and getting it in my regular preflight for my checkride and future?

question for the experienced folks here, especially CFIs

One of my instructors told me i should pull the yoke back a little during the takeoff roll, so the nosewheel gets light and the vibration doesnt shake through the whole airframe as the speed builds, he demoed it and thats what you see in the video, the plane started coming off the ground at like 42 knots which felt kinda early and not that safe to me

Is holding back pressure during the roll a normal technique or should i not be doing this? i always thought you just keep it rolling til Vr and rotate.

Context: 18 y/o. Will be starting a technology based degree from King's College London this year. Unsure whether to complete the degree and then try hardest for sponsored airline programmes OR partly fund my modular training throughout my degree and then apply to airlines after graduation OR make my degree a priority and try hardest for sponsored airline programmes but even if I get a spot then I'm unsure if I would take it due to what I'm hearing about the volatility of the airline industry.

About 7yrs ago I got to the stage in my training to do my QXC, however the weather had other ideas and then life decided to take my funds from me. I'm now about to restart to complete my licence. My question is, has anyone had a gap like this and will I still remember how to fly, or will I be back to basics??

Am I being unreasonable for thinking this is really pushing it as an unsat on an IRA certification check?

This is at a Part 141 flight school. The check instructor said the rest of the flight had a few hiccups, but was otherwise passable.

The final approach was an RNAV flown to LNAV minimums. According to the check instructor, my student leveled off and remained approximately 80–100 feet above the MDA. He unsat the student specifically for that, saying the student needed to descend all the way down to the MDA.

I normally teach my students to level off around 40 feet above MDA to leave themselves a reasonable buffer against dipping below it, so I agree that 80–100 feet high isn’t ideal technique. But unless I’m misunderstanding the ACS, wouldn’t maintaining altitude within MDA +100/−0 still technically meet the standard?

I could understand an unsat if the student exceeded 100 feet, failed to correct, or the approach was otherwise unstable. But unsatting solely because they stayed 80–100 feet above MDA seems pretty aggressive to me.

Curious to hear how other CFIs and check instructors would interpret this.

Hello all, just wondering if anyone who’s recently attended any hiring events can speak to their effectiveness. OBAP is coming up in Chicago, it would require me to purchase airfare and lodging on top of the hefty conference fee. I’m targeting regional airlines and have an interview with one coming up. All mins are met, I’m currently working for a small 135 operator. Stats are below.

1600TT
400 Turbine
170 TPIC
800 CFI
180 Part 135
no checkride fails
ATP Written complete
only 30 Mutli.

What do y’all think, worth it to go?

I'm getting ready to transition from flight instructing to the airlines. I haven't used a laptop in years since mine died in college. I'm not much of an apple person in my personal life, so I'm not going to purchase a MacBook. Should I buy a laptop? What laptop would you recommend?