So winds will remain mostly calm on the surface this evening, however TAF is calling for LLWS at 2000 with speeds 40-50 knots. Chances are I’m gonna call it, just feel uneasy about it, however I have flown in worse at altitude.

My question is would you can the flight? I’ve heard ws at that altitude is more of an annoyance and just causes some turb.

Currently a 28 y/o WFH Software Engineer working a typical corporate schedule. I am married with a son on the way this spring.

I’ve been exploring aviation as a career something I had never seriously considered before, but it’s highly intriguing to me. My biggest concern, if I were to ever seriously pursue this path, is the impact of a pilot’s schedule on family life.

I’d love to hear from pilots in serious relationships: How has your schedule affected your relationship with your partner and family? What are the biggest challenges and benefits you’ve experienced along the way?

I know a few general recommendations like:

- Know your limitations and the lmitations of your aircraft

- Avoid bad wheather

Are there any specific tips, best practices or lessons learned you would give me?

I’m a ppl holder in the philippines & i am considering moving to florida to continue my cpl. Would this move increase my chances of becoming a flight instructor in the US? Also, what visa should I apply for that allows me to work part time?

Does anyone know what happens if your medical expires during a government shutdown? Does date get extended or are you out of luck? On SI.

I’ve always wondered what happens when we call to get in queue, as I have no idea how it works Do you have a website interface where you have a list of departure slots, do you call up center on the landline? And how do you guys see the congestion on various airways or departure fixes? I figure this is all command centers purview but wondered how that information is displayed to you

Im about to start flight training soon and im looking for a small-ish bag to put all my gear in, headphones, ipad, fuel testers and documents.

recommendations would be appreciated

Yesterday I passed my IR checkride, honestly this feeling is great. The ground was pretty expected and I missed a few mild things. Besides that the ground was pretty good and about 2 hours including admin.

After that we waited a little bit for the winds to calm down and went to the aircraft. The flight was pretty good. We flew a VOR with PT, a partial panel RNAV with one failed G5 circle to land, and a RNAV down to LPV minimums. We did two unusual attitudes between the RNAVs. It was under two hours on the hobbs and overall went pretty smooth besides some VFR traffic at a CTAF field making the circle to land a bit tricky.

Overall it was a great checkride and I had a good time, though I was a little stressed in the moment.

Im currently in High school and I took an Online Course so I could pass the written exam to meet the requirements for a 10,000$ scholarship. So then I could start to get my Private Pilots License. I finished the course and got two 80% on the practice exams for the endorsement. Then I took the exam failed it with a 63% and now I have a week left until the scholarship deadline and I can’t seem to get 80%’s on the practice exams. I don’t want to memorize the practice exam database so I only took one and got a 73%. Im hoping to schedule the exam again this week so I can meet the deadline. But Im stuck on how to study or what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.

NOTAMs system went down for a few hours… no accident or incident has occurred with any causality to it. Meanwhile these scums capitalize on fear and put the DC and Phili crashes in the background for good measure. People in the comments are fully convinced of some sort of aviation apocalypse.

Now in a beautiful automated format, this is a place to ask all the questions that are either just downright silly or too small to warrant their own thread.

The ground rules:

No question is too dumb, unless:

1. it's already addressed in the FAQ (you have read that, right?), or
2. it's quickly resolved with a Google search

Remember that rule 7 is still in effect. We were all students once, and all of us are still learning. What's common sense to you may not be to the asker.

Previous MM's can be found by searching the continuing automated series

Happy Monday!

Nov 2019- Dec 2020- started taking flight lessons, got my PPL and started IFR training

Dec 2020- got my first corporate job and the 9-5pm schedule and northeast weather put a hard stop on flying for almost 3 years. Was tough managing both that and had a fiance that didn’t want me becoming a pilot and wanted me to save money instead.

Aug 2023- Present- realized flying was what I wanted. Quit my job, got rid of Fiance, got instrument rated but that took almost a year due to an instructor milking me and a bunch of students and the terrible northeast weather. Now almost Commercial rated hoping to finish CFI by summer. I fly 3-4 times on average but with northeast weather, instructors going away on vacation, examiner availablitu it’s taken longer.

My friends and family constantly thinking I’m lying when I tell them it’s going to take roughly another 2.5 years to get to airlines and that is if things look good with the industry. They think I’ve been at this for the last 5 years with no finish line in sight. They fail to realize the 3 year gap

Nov 2019- Dec 2020- started taking flight lessons, got my PPL and started IFR training

Dec 2020- got my first corporate job and the 9-5pm schedule and northeast weather put a hard stop on flying for almost 3 years

Aug 2023- Present- realized flying was what I wanted. Quit my job, got instrument rated but that took almost a year due to an instructor milking me and a bunch of students and the terrible northeast weather. Now almost Commercial rated hoping to finish CFI by summer. I fly 3-4 times on average but with northeast weather, instructors going away on vacation, examiner availablitu it’s taken longer.

My friends and family constantly thinking I’m lying when I tell them it’s going to take roughly another 2.5 years to get to airlines and that is if things look good with the industry. They think I’ve been at this for the last 5 years with no finish line in sight. They fail to realize the 3 year gap

I am flying professionally for years and recently started to think about it. I am just not sure it is worth it compare to doing my own investment.

Would getting a spot to be based in a densely contested area like NYC be difficult? What would be the pros and cons of living in a place like that for a pilot?

Hey everyone!

I just started making my CFI lesson plans a few days ago and holy hell am I overwhelmed. I heard the DPE in my area that does CFI rides is super against using any purchased lesson plans. So, I planned on doing everything from scratch, which I’m absolutely not against as it will help refresh my knowledge.

However, my first lesson plan took me days to complete and the PowerPoint ended up being ridiculous long. I am just so stressed and overwhelmed. I feel like it’s going to take me literally months to go through the whole ACS and make lesson plans for everything at the pace I’m moving at and method I’m using. I am even more stressed considering the DPE is highly against utilizing purchased lessons.

How do you guys recommend I go about my presentations? Any recent PowerPoint making advice? How long should it be taking me to make one lesson? I am open to any and all advice. TIA!

Everyone has probably heard at some point that the poppy seeds in Everything Bagel could cause positive results on drug tests.

Japan is one country which prohibits cannabis use, but doesn’t prohibit consumption of their seed. For example there is a traditional spice Shichimi, of which one ingredient is hemp seed. Another is a drink (no longer in production due to unrelated reasons) called CHILL OUT, which contains hemp seed extract. There’s probably more out there.

As this being literal cannabis, would there be issues with drug tests if I were to consume above items, despite their legal status? What other foods around the world (because pilots travel, right?) seem innocent but could pose a threat to your flying career?

Anyone have a good source for simulated instrument failure covers for specific PFDs like the G3X? I’ve seen some steam gauge ones as well as G1000, but I’m either looking in the wrong place or they don’t make them. Any recommendations?

Thinking about applying to JSX whenever they open up an FO portal. They'll be at the NGPA Expo so I'll try to talk to them and see what they're up to. Was curious to see how their hiring is forecasted and if their 800 hour minimum has changed if and when they post new FO jobs.

Just starting to work on my own lesson plans, I bought backseat pilot for some guidance but I want to make my own to really know it inside and out. Originally, I thought of forming my lesson plans as a sort of syllabus, covering some topics I thought were applicable for a "Lesson One", like a short introduction of Principles of Flight, into an introduction to Primary and Secondary Controls, ending with some basic ADM. However now after meeting with my instructor, I am planning on just going by the ACS, getting all the material into separate lesson plans based in the ACS order and then picking and choosing whichever one I need when I'm actually teaching. This is how Backseat Pilot makes their lesson plans also.

However, I'm having a hard time making lessons plans in this format though because I don't know how I should separate the introductory private information from the in depth commercial level information. For example, take an introductory topic like drag: when explaining it to a private student for the first time you're obviously not going to go into induced drag and parasite drag, but would I still include that information in my lesson plan and just skip it? Or just have it in a completely separate section? I'm just trying to imagine actually using these lesson plans and if it would be easier to have all the possible information about a subject in one spot or have it in a progression so you wouldn't have to pick out and separate the private level information on the fly.

I am curious to know how some of you went about this and what you found most effective, I would really appreciate any advice!

I’m going to preface this by saying I am not here to complain. I am simply looking for perspective. That being said, I am approaching the end of my commercial single training, and for a vast majority of people, the next step is CFI/II. I realize that it is by far the most common, economical, and reliable way to build time.

For me, personally, I have no intention of getting it at the moment. I am EXTREMELY fortunate to have my own aircraft to build time in and train in, and also knowing that I will have my multi paid for as well.

However, this isn’t about the financial aspect, it’s more about the experience and the journey. I personally feel that I would be a terrible instructor, and that I would not be able to develop a teaching strategy where I am able to effectively set up a student for success. Yes, I know you learn about this in FOI, but I do not understand any circumstances want to become “that” instructor, dragging my feet to 1500+ hours.

I do have potential employment opportunities down the line as I have made a few connections working as a ramp rat. I digress, though, I’m wondering why most people are like “too bad, suck it up, you ARE getting your CFI and you ARE going to like it” when there are other pathways to timebuild and get employment opportunities, even with the industry being as cyclical as it is right now.

Thank you.

EDIT: Edit: This was a harsh reality check for me. I’m going to suck it up and get my CFI. I want to prove to everybody that I have a hard work ethic and not skimp around the corners and try to weasel my way into a 91 or 135 gig. I want to become the best pilot I can possibly be. I’m extremely sorry if I came across as lazy, that isn’t what I want to be perceived as. This is why I wanted a different perspective, hence the post. I accept the criticism and will do better.

I have just started my training. I saw some simulators online. My main training plane will be a Cessna 172. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance

How does delay prioritization work exactly when e.g. sfo goes down to one runway? How much say does the airline have in juggling their own flights into slots?

Source of curiosity today is UA304 taking a rolling 2.5 hour atc delay due to conditions at sfo. Meanwhile, the next SFO-DEN flight, UA1300, gets their release five minutes before 304 and departs on time, ahead of the delayed flight with the same city pair/airline.

I work for an airline and am going to become a coordinator in some capacity this month, so not exactly a pilot.

I was given a pdf resource before training class called Study Guide for the Restricted Operator Certificate with Aeronautical Qualification (ROC-A). It’s 34 pages and from Industry Canada.

Is this the best resource for practicing the exam questions, or has that changed in recent years?: https://www.flighttrainers.ca/courses/roc-a-practice-exam/quizzes/roc-a-practice-exam/

I’m told it’s pretty straightforward and saw other posts about it but what can I expect doing this in 2025 specifically, and are you able to give me tips on what to focus on before we touch on this stuff in training? Any tips on what your test looked like or how to get a leg up is appreciated as I’ve heard about both written and oral aspects of this.

Hey, I live in Australia and start school in two days, I picked physics when subject selections first came out but I’m starting to think that I don’t want to do it however if it increases my chances into flight school I will do it. I also spoke to the head science teacher and he said only a small amount of the curriculum will be about aerodynamics etc. any advice on what I should do will be greatly appreciated thanks.

Does anyone know of any non flying FAA jobs? Ive been looking but it seems like most the job listings even for non flying jobs still want you to have 1500 flight hours. Im a 270ish hour pilot that finished all my ratings and cant get a flight job. However, aviation is all i have any experience at all in so im trying to find a decent non flying job in the industry. Also im a helicopter guy not fixed wing. Thank you for any insight or ideas and be safe.

Dual citizen here.

I understand that people come from all over the world to earn ratings in the US for the lower cost, but with all that is happening in this country among other reasons my partner and I need to go back to Canada.

I would love a bit of insight on major differences between flight school in both countries. I already see there is a ROC test in Canada that doesn’t seem to exist in the US, PPL is apparently out of pocket nation wide in Canada. Etc.

This might be a dumb question but I was looking at IAPs and wasn’t sure what this symbol is . None of the approaches I’ve flown have had it and I’ve never been told what is is .