The Pre-Flight Briefing - Pilot Shop Blog

One of the first steps towards fulfilling the dream of becoming a pilot is to obtain a medical certificate. This is part of the student pilot certification process. Once obtained, all medical certificates expire after a set period of time and must be renewed. Alternatively, pilots who meet the BasicMed criteria have the option of transitioning to the BasicMed certification program after obtaining their initial standard FAA medical certificate.

Piper Aircraft got its start in 1927 with the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Manufacturing Company out of Rochester, New York. The Taylor brothers, Clarence and Gordon, started the company to produce their Taylor Chummy, a two-place high-wing monoplane design.

We have been fooled by the atlas. Its two-dimensional presentation of Earth causes us to think about international travel from a west to east perspective. Hong Kong, for example, is east of New York.

We won’t sugarcoat it: IFR training is challenging and demanding. Even after training is over and you have earned your IFR certification, you will still need to maintain instrument currency to be a truly safe IFR pilot.

In its just over 1 year of life, a custom-built plane named Draco became the stuff of legend. Garmin called it “a bush plane reaching new extremes.” Plane&Pilot suggested that this “beast of a bush plane” just may be “the coolest airplane in the world.” They even went so far as to refer to Draco as “the ultimate fixed-wing helicopter.”

Thinking about becoming a professional pilot? Congratulations! Life as a pilot can be exciting, rewarding, and memorable. It can also be challenging, stressful, and exhausting.

How’s your podcast list looking? Could it use a little refresher? An infusion of new content and fresh ideas? Maybe you are just starting to branch out and discover the world of aviation podcasts.

If you already have your commercial pilot license and you are ready to take the next step up the pilot food chain, it’s time to talk about an airline transport pilot (ATP) certification.

When talking airspace, the closer we get to the beginning of the alphabet, the more nervous some pilots become. Each class of airspace moving towards A is accompanied by extra rules and regulations that can seem intimidating.

The first airplane flap was developed in 1916, just over a decade after Kitty Hawk. Aircraft designers realized that wing flaps could be used to change the shape and therefore the aerodynamic performance of the wings during flight. Over the next century, multiple designs have been developed in the quest to achieve the perfect lift-to-drag ratio capabilities for all phases of flight from takeoff to landing.

Most aircraft follow standard design norms and have a predictable configuration. Then you have other aircraft, the kind that look more like a product of Photoshopping than engineering. Some are simply unique, and others are downright weird.

It is no secret that new pilots are often more than a little nervous and hesitant about getting on the radio. They worry about not remembering what to say and how to say it when they finally key up the mic, but even if you get those variables right, it still does you no good if you are not on the correct frequency. That is why an important hurdle of using your radio is understanding and learning common aviation frequencies.

Marrying a pilot, it sounds so romantic and exotic, doesn’t it? Jet setting to dream destinations and living a spontaneous life of adventure and excitement that is fit for a movie or at the very least the page of an Instagram influencer. You may be wondering, what’s not to like?

To the average person, the sky looks like a wide-open expanse with no roads, lane dividers, speed limit signs, or traffic signs. Of course, our view is completely different as pilots. Equipped with a full load-out of charts (plus a handy FAA Aeronautical Chart Users Guide to help us interpret them), we are well-aware of the invisible boundaries, regulations, and responsibilities that come along with a license to fly.

The closest thing to sitting at the controls of a real-world cockpit is recreating the experience at our home computers and Xboxes. Anyone can use flight simulator software paired with a mouse and keyboard, but real aviation fans and pilots know that realistic control feels are the secret to transforming your flight sim experience.

Who are the most famous pilot fashion icons? General MacArthur may have popularized aviator sunglasses, but Tom Cruise ignited “Top Gun” Maverick fashion mania.