Welcome to Rod Machado's Aviation Learning Center

Greetings Everyone:

Thank you for visiting my newest site. And thank you for letting me help you learn to fly or learn more about flying. In this site you'll find many resources that I hope will assist you in enjoying aviation. There are many articles under the Articles menu that answer questions you might have. My Blog also has something for everyone, including a minimalist flight training syllabus for instructors to videos on piloting techniques ranging from "When to Begin the Landing Flare" to interesting aspects of psychology such as "The Troxler Effect." So please feel free to explore, and if you have any questions, use the contact link at the top of the page to contact me. I answer all my emails personally. Sometimes it takes a few days to get to them all, but I do...eventually.

Sincerely,
Rod Machado

Rod's Message to You
Flying is a transforming experience. If you'd like a good reason to get your son or daughter involved in flying, please read my article titled, "Reluctant Moms and Dads."
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Latest Posts

  • Making it Personal

    By Rod Machado Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale describes the confusion that James Bond initially felt as a new “Double-O” agent who’s licensed to kill. Bond’s troubles stemmed from his doubts about whether or not he was actually fighting for the... read more

  • Save the Slope People

    It's the Right Thing to Do Recently, my wife summoned me to our patio deck and pointed to puffs of smoke rising from the roof of a house below. I ran down our slope, through brush and thorns, and approached... read more

  • Fanning—A Lost Technique for Teaching the Landing Flare

    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 help student pilots learn to land. It involves pulling the... read more

  • Checkride Anxiety: Much Ado About Everything

    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 exam (the applicant, not the examiner), the ultimate demonstration of... read more

  • Panorama and Pleasure

    By Rod Machado Audio Version Download (MP3)  There are many ways to activate the pleasure center of a pilot’s brain. Speak the words “Broken Hobbs meter” or “pilot supplies, 75% off,” and most aviators become highly aroused. Then again, a panoramic... read more

  • The Stall Horn Fallacy of Stall Prevention

    By Rod Machado News flash! The Mona Lisa’s eyebrows are missing. That’s right. Gone! Some say they were scrubbed off during an early restoration. I suspect they were vaporized when Leonardo had Mona over for a pre-portrait barbecue and he... read more

  • The Flying Equation: The Basics of Attitude Flying

     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 never understood why Einstein, despite his towering intellect, didn’t comprehend... read more

  • Suburi Training

    How to Get the Most Out of a Flight SimulatorBy Rod MachadoThe 1984 movie The Karate Kid revealed a rare pedagogical truth of immense value to flight instructors. The movie centers around Daniel, who volunteers to polish the car and... read more

  • Stalls Redefined as Emergency Flight Operations

    I managed to watch the recent NAFI-sponsored ACS webinar on replay (http://www.mentorlive.site/program/3.html). I’d like to offer a different opinion from those provided by the FAA and ACS committee members in this video. First, let me say that in all my... read more

  • Runway Safety Madness – Tongue n’ Cheek

    Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt. That’s my new strategy for preventing runway incursions.  It’s a reasonable plan, given that these events have actually increased since the FAA began seriously collecting statistics on the issue. That’s right. Despite the implementation of... read more

  • Defeated by "da" Feet

     By Rod Machado  You’ve heard this sad tale before: Forty hours of dual instruction, with over 200 logged landings—and Bobby still can’t land an airplane. Bobby is in such despair that his instructor resorts to special motivational phrases to buoy... read more

  • Stall Requirement on Commercial ACS Gone! Replaced by Hearing Test!

    Isn't it ironic that the FAA wants all pilots to have better stick-and-rudder skills while, at the same time, it dumbs down the flying skills required to obtain a pilot certificate? In case you've been in the Himalayas practicing chants with the... read more

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