At 36,000 ft. over Wyoming, I was the floor and the flight attendent was stuffing an oxygen mask on my face. What the heck is happening! Read on…
Source: www.theroamingboomers.com
Eight Steps to Conquering my Fear of Flying | The Roaming Boomers
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Every Question You’ve Ever Had About Flying, Answered By A Pilot
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Let’s just put it right out there: flying is a king-sized pain in the ass. The cramped seats, the recycled air, the turbulence, the mysterious noises. Determined to conquer my own personal fear, I sought out Tom Bunn — an experienced airline captain and licensed therapist.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
Quiz: Do You Know These Light Gun Signals?
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You’re approaching a tower-controlled airport when your radio suddenly fails, so how can air traffic control give you a landing clearance?
Source: www.boldmethod.com
Wind Speed Over a Wing
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If you’ve been looking into flight training for a while, you’ve likely heard some derivation of the following: “air must move over the top of the wing faster to meet the wind that flows under the wing at the same time.” Well, I always wondered why the wind “must” meet at the same time. It turns out, it need not do so. The following video briefly shows that the wind over the top of a wing does move faster than the wind beneath the wing. However, the wind over the top of the wing also arrives at the end of the wing much sooner than that of the wind that travels beneath the wing. [Read more…]
Bernoulli’s Principle of Pressure
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Bernoulli’s Principle of Pressure states that the pressure of a moving fluid (liquid or gas) varies with its speed of motion (1). If the fluid’s speed increases, a drop in pressure will be seen. This principle is a key component of flight. It is used as a basis for the measurement of airspeed and for analyzing the airfoil’s ability to produce lift (1).
Air Pressure Decreasing in a Venturi Tube
Air Density
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The Atmosphere
Your aircraft will be flying through atmosphere at a certain elevation, so we might as well start there. Think back to your early science classes when you were taught about the environment. You may not remember the exact mixture, but I’m sure you recall that our atmosphere is a mixture of gases. What you might not recall is that gases have weight, and are thus subject to the laws of physics. Thus, we can determine some basic facts about the air based on the temperature, humidity, and pressure of the air. Why is this important? Because temperature, humidity, and pressure affect air density – and air density is a key component of aircraft performance!
Density Decreases with Altitude (Generally)
Aviation 101 Video on Hulu
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If you’re looking to just sit back and watch a video about aviation, you’re in luck. There’s actually a video on Hulu titled “Aviation 101” from a show called: The Aviators. The show is about 30 minutes long and, of course, has some advertisements interspersed, but I still think it’s worth the watch.
The episode itself speaks briefly about the categories of aviation: commercial, military, and general aviation. It then goes on to show various types of airplanes and teaches us about the very basic elements of the plane. You’ll hear about the aircraft fuselage, engine, rudders, wings, etc… About mid-way through the program you’ll see a section that discusses the principles of flight. This gets into details about how the aircraft is actually able to fly. This is then followed by a review of the various pilot’s license endorsements that are needed to fly the various types of aircraft. [Read more…]
Exterior Components of the Aircraft
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If you’re here, you likely already know a thing or two the general structure of an airplane: fuselage, wings, power-plant, empennage, and landing gear. Nevertheless, we’re going to cover the basics to ensure you have a good feel for each of the latter. If you ever intend to take an aircraft to flight, you’ll want to know it all inside-and-out. [Read more…]
Why
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If you’re like me, you’ve likely dreamed of flying an airplane most of your life. While I’ve dreamed about this for longer than I can remember, life has always got in the way of me actually becoming a pilot. Whether it was money, time, or otherwise, something always seemed to come up. Well, this is it. If I have to take this one painful baby-step at a time, I’m determined to see this through. I’m plan to walk through some of the pilot’s books I’ve acquired over the years and get some notes online. This will hopefully help me retain better what I’m reading and prepare me for the day when I finally can go for my private pilot’s license exam.
As I am just learning most of the material, I do not claim that it will be perfectly interpreted. Nevertheless, I will try to accurately represent the facts in these posts. If you see something that is incorrect, please correct me. I’d love for this to be as accurate as possible and serve as a reference for others that wish to follow in this journey.
Good luck to all!