ADF Navigation: The Basics November 2021 Automatic Direction Finding (ADF) Navigation:On Not Being a Homing BoyBy Rod Machado It's been said that anyone who keeps an ADF unit in his airplane does so because he can't...
GONE: Slow Flight at Minimum Controllable Airspeed June 2021 In its 1965 Flight Training Handbook, the FAA dedicated over two pages of text to explain the concept of flight at minimum controllable airspeed (MCA)
Weber's Law October 2019 By Rod Machado If you closed your eyes, held out a cup, and asked someone to gently pour water in it, how much liquid would need to be added before...
Dive and Drive: Fact or Fiction? Maybe Both? December 2018 By Rod Machado I am a "dive and drive" denier. There, I said it and I'm not taking it back. The term "Dive and Drive" is used by some instructors in the...
The Middle-aged Aviator August 2018 By Rod Machado Over the years, I’ve heard many stories about middle-aged pilots (45-65 years) who gave up flying due to a sudden onset of anxiety. Apparently this wasn’t induced...
Cargo Cult Thinking July 2018 By Rod Machado Early in the 20th Century, pilots visited remote islands by air, dropping off goodies for Tarzan and Jane. On subsequent visits, these pilots noticed that the natives...
Fanning—A Lost Technique for Teaching the Landing Flare March 2018 Excerpted from Rod Machado's How to Fly an Airplane Handbook. Fanning? While flying? Yes, but it is not something you do after landing hot. Fanning is a technique used to...
Checkride Anxiety: Much Ado About Everything February 2018 By Rod MachadoAn FAA designated examiner once told me about the most anxious private pilot candidate he ever experienced on a checkride. Aside from sweating and mumbling during the oral...
The Flying Equation: The Basics of Attitude Flying December 2017 Albert Einstein gave us E=mc2, one of the most venerable of physics equations. It’s an equation that allows us to understand the relationship between mass and energy. Then again, I’ve...
