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One of the reasons ForeFlight has maintained its position as the most popular app in aviation is its commitment to new features. That’s great for pilots, but it does require some study to keep up to date. To help pilots get the most of ForeFlight and learn how to use these new features, Sporty’s offers a complete ForeFlight training course. The course is available in two formats, either as a dedicated iPad app or streaming online course....

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The Three Most Important Assets After An Engine Quits There are three factors that make emergency landings much more likely to have a happy outcome. The first and most important is a clear and functioning mind. The second is having a plan and a place to land already picked out, and the third is altitude. The first and second are imperative and totally under our control. The third, altitude, is a matter of happenstance on takeoff, but a self-governed factor, when on a cross-country. Clear And Functioning Mind. 

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Everyone reading these words has flown with a lot of other pilots. And without realizing it, every one of us mentally puts those pilots into one of two categories based on how they handle the airplane. When flying with one group of pilots, the airplane feels as if it's moving through molasses on rails: very smoothly with no extraneous motions. We label those pilots "aviators." The other group is doing something that gives us the subliminal feeling that the airplane is continually moving around as it searches for its comfort zone. We simply call those "pilots." 

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Do you know what to do if you are intercepted by NORAD? No one plans to bust a TFR or wander into Restricted Airspace unannounced, but as PIC you should be familiar with intercept procedures just in case it happens to you. AOPA created a helpful Safety Card which provides flight planning tips for TFR avoidance and a quick reference guide on how to safely comply with standard NORAD / FAA intercept procedures.

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ForeFlight’s free Pilot’s Guide is refreshingly easy to read, and it comes built-in to the app. Just tap the Documents tab, then the ForeFlight menu. You’ll discover dozens of features you probably don’t know about. ...

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Aircraft  Maintenance Checklist  Propeller  --Spinner and back-plate to cracks or looseness  --Blades for nicks and cracks  --Hub for grease or oil leaks  --Bolts for security and safety wire    Engine Run-up check  --Magneto drop and grounding  --Mixture and throttle for smoothness of operation  --Propeller control for smoothness of operation

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I could feel my mind going deeper and deeper into a fog. No matter how hard I tried to focus, I couldn't seem to make sense of the basic problems that I had been tasked with. What is the sum of 15 plus 4? The question wasn't hard, but it took all of my brainpower to muster up the answer. 19. Next question … I felt generally OK, but there was pressure behind my eyes, I could feel a slight headache coming on and my vision didn't seem quite right. With the exception of the sheet of paper in front of me, the remainder of the room had faded away. It was time to don the oxygen mask. As soon as the life-critical O2 molecules started to flow back into my arteries I could feel my senses return. It was as if someone had flipped a switch. 

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December 2010 — It starts out as a typical flight. You complete your preflight planning and load the airplane. The engine starts quickly and everything is normal during the run-up, so you taxi onto the runway, add full power and then smoothly lift off for another enjoyable flight. Then, just as you are thinking ahead to the departure sequence, there is sudden, unexpected, shocking silence. It takes many precious seconds for your brain to recognize and comprehend what has happened, consider the options and then decide on a course of action.

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First of all, there is no such thing as an “official weather briefing.” It’s not defined anywhere in the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) or the Pilot/Controller Glossary. The only regulation pertaining to pre-flight briefings is FAR 91.103: Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include— (a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the

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Chair flying. Flight training involves learning new motor skills. You would do much better in the air if you learn those skills in a relaxed and safe environment, while on the ground. Airline pilots spend hours practicing procedures in a “procedure trainer” (a non-functional mockup of the cockpit) before they step into an expensive level-D flight simulator or into the actual aircraft. That way, they already know what to do.