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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 by any specific aviation trauma nor inspired by the relatively... read more
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 had built flimsy stick-and-twig replicas of their airplanes. Anthropologists named... read more
By Rod Machado Am I happy about the recent changes to FAR Part 61? You bet I’m happy. These changes will be helpful to general aviation in much the same way a corkscrew is to a Frenchman on Bastille Day.... read more
The FAA has just released several "final new rules" that will have a positive effect on general aviation. The FAA deserves props for these changes and I want to be the first to congratulate them. You can read the rule making... read more
Flight instructors! Remove those party hats, collect the confetti and deflate those balloons because this is no time to celebrate. Celebrate what? I'm speaking of celebrating the FAA's semi-reinstatement of full-stalls in the June 2018 Commercial Airplane ACS. It turns out that... read more
If you've ever wondered how engineers find an airplane's maneuvering speed, here's your chance to understand the concept in non-technical terms. That's right! No math here. Sit back, relax and let Rod Machado help you better understand Va and how... read more
In the previous video titled, "Understanding Maneuvering Speed," I explained how maneuvering speed helps prevent structural damage to the airplane. In this video, I explain why maneuvering speed changes with a change in the airplane's weight. You must watch the... read more
If you've ever wondered why Vx (best angle of climb speed) and Vy (best rate of climb speed) change with altitude, here's a short explanation of the concept by Rod Machado read more
Not knowing how to select the proper attitude for departure from a high density altitude airport means you might accidentally clip the top of tall pine trees near the end of the runway (or worse). This is no way to... read more
Here is a simple but very effective behavior modification technique I've used with my students over the years to train them to think ahead of the airplane. It's based on the principle of associative conditioning. Use it to train your... read more
Here is a 5-Step teaching strategy that I've used for decades—both in and out of an airplane cockpit—with great success. It's useful by any teacher in any training situation because it provides a strategic approach to changing a student's behavior.... read more
Here's a short video showing you several ways to lean your airplane's mixture for a high density altitude takeoff. This piece covers leaning for normally aspirated engines having fixed pitch and constant speed propellers. (www.becomeapilot.com) read more
