I'm a frequent traveler, both for business and personal purposes, taking dozens of flights each year.

Before, prior to travelling i.e flying i would experience a certain sense of joy and looking forward to it. Now it's more of an anguish about "what are the b**** gonna take away from me this time around".

So instead of packing once, i need to pack and repack three times to check there aren't any 1cm long 'knifes' or liquids in my hand luggage. I learned the hard way that rock-solid honey is also a 'liquid'. Had 2kg of it thrown in Belgrade some years ago.

There are machines already capable of scanning through liquids, yet most airports, despite millions in revenue, aren't in hurry to implement them.

That results in thousands of tons of personal items, valuables and souvenirs thrown into the garbage or sold at an auction at airports around the world.

Only at few airports, mainly in the CIS, you're allowed to pick back up your item on your flight back (if you fly back).

How long will this continue or rather shall we ask: cui bono?

Hello all, I’m very interested in a career track I never see mention here. I imagine it’s a sensitive or even classified job requiring a security clearance, but how would I get into flying chemtrail rigs? I imagine this would fall under part 135, but haven’t found anything definitive. Is this a military MOS only? I would think they’d have contract civilian pilots also. Is there a special 141 program that will fast track me on this career path? Should I have a chemistry degree? Work for Skunkworks? I have little interest in flying people or cargo across the states, but I would absolutely enjoy seeding clouds to control the weather, deploying population control, and brainwashing the sheeple. I’m totally willing to start in rural areas controlling the cons until I can move to more urban/suburban areas to own the libs. Any advice is appreciated, and I understand if you have to DM for secrecy purposes. Many thanks in advance!

This isn't to brag or anything, I just wanted to talk about it. Sort of a flight-blog post, if you will.

Planned to go up in a flight school 172 and do a quick trip to a nearby airport, practice landings etc. No specific mission, just keeping my muscle memory and ADM up to speed.

Weather forecast for the day was near perfection - 71, sunny, no clouds, minimal wind.

The morning of I did my briefing and saw that weather at some surrounding airports was MVFR, and there was mountain obscuration to the West (nowhere near me though). METAR showing clear VFR conditions at my airport, destination, and along the route.

Got to the airport and wind had picked up a bit but was right down the runway, nothing crazy. Cloud cover looked more than advertised. METAR reporting clear below 120. So I decided I'd go up and do some laps in the pattern and work on landings locally - zero traffic in the area.

That went well, so I did a full stop, checked the weather again, and decided I'd fly to the nearby airport I'd had in mind (maybe a 15 minute flight).

When I exited the class delta, I started getting uneasy. There was an obvious overcast layer quite high up that I had observed in the pattern, but I was seeing a fair amount of clouds right at my level, about 3000 ft MSL, maybe 2500 AGL out in front of me. I considered lowering my altitude, but then started to imagine a slippery slope of continuing to descend until I ran out of altitude. There really weren't TONS of clouds, but I'd guess somewhere between scattered and broken. Checked the ATIS again at the destination airport, and they were still reporting clear below 120 and no winds.

In my head I had the mantra of "fly the weather you see", and figured I'd regret continuing, plus I have a healthy (if not unreasonable) fear of IMC and death spirals, so I decided to turn around and return to the airport and land. I had left the delta a couple of minutes before that, so when I called the tower back up and announced my intentions they were definitely worried something was wrong - I said I was returning to land and they responded with a hasty runway clearance and asked if everything was OK (which I really appreciated, those guys are great). Landed uneventfully and went about my day.

So anyway that's it. This is probably very uninteresting to most experienced aviators, but what I've found most prominent and difficult about flying after getting my PPL and not flying with a CFI is these kinds of decisions. I think this is where flight training didn't have enough emphasis . If I'd have been with a CFI, they'd probably have pushed on and said something like "all good, if we get into IMC I'll just pick up an IFR clearance!" which obviously doesn't help me as a new private pilot. I had a similar decision with winds recently where I ended up canceling the flight before I even did a preflight - with the CFI, we would have gone up and gotten crosswind landing training, but I don't think we spent enough time discussing whether I should fly those conditions by myself. I'm obviously taking a pretty conservative approach, and trying to recall the thousands of hours of youtube crash videos I've watched over the years.

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So I am a student pilot who had three to four lessons in a Cessna 172S with round dial instruments. I’m 5ft 4in, and I have extreme trouble reaching the pedals. Can anyone relate to this? I know I can use a backrest if available (usually a seat cushion), but sometimes they always aren’t available and causes discomfort. Would I actually be able to reach the pedals without the need of a backrest in the newer glass display Cessnas and when flying professionally in the airlines?

If you can, can you recommend to me some backrests that are good for you?

Thanks!

Has anyone done the instrument and commercial courses through the Pilot Institute? I got through my PPL written with them and am hoping the next two courses are equally as helpful. Not nearly as many reviews are online for them so I was wondering if anyone here had experience with them. Cheers!

I just got my private and I want to take my dad out flying, but I can’t find anywhere that will rent planes, please help. I live near KPMP KFXE And KBCT so if y’all know anywhere here that can rent me a Cessna lmk plz

Edit: you guys really think I haven’t tried googling it, don’t be mean

I've seen a number of people posting lately "is it broke, the flight school owner says it's okay" pictures, with the usual amount of smug replies ranging from "you're PIC/learning to be PIC" to "Yeah, it's broke, the school doesn't care about you.". Aside from the usual reddit smugness about these, they're often laced with ignorance or a downright absence of understanding of what they're looking at. Not always, of course, there are plenty who chime in with the correct information, but there are enough who don't know and still insist on being "experts" that I have concerns.

That being said, I have a couple of words of advice to aspiring, training, and even current pilots.

Talk to your mechanics. Talk to your A&Ps.

When the oft-mentioned "flight school owner" says it's fine, instead of running to reddit with a picture and looking for the group snuggles and feels of affirmation, ask them "Can you teach me why this is okay?"

And if they harrumph and can't explain it and give you a "it just is, fly it already" then I'd say go ahead and feel concern. But otherwise, ask questions to learn. It's okay. You displaying a lack of knowledge isn't a sign of weakness, and if you come into the shop asking your questions generally we aren't going to bite.

Most of us who work GA aircraft are there because we love it, not for the money. We love when people come to us to learn. We love to teach. We love to show you all the fiddly bits and how they like to break. We might give you a bit of ribbing, maybe make a couple jokes, but that's because we do it to everyone including ourselves. But if you come to us genuinely wanting to understand or to learn, or having a concern, most of us will want to help.

So come talk to us.

Besides. Many of us are pilots too. So we understand.

Edit:

Seeing people talk about not great interactions or downright hostility. Not sure what the reasons why are, but if you're running into that, bring a peace offering of donuts or something. Not that you have to, but it might be enough to reset relations and get them talking.

Hey I started my PPL a few weeks ago and I need to buy a headset. Do you have any suggestions?

Heard about the Bose A30, but it’s around 1500€, is it really good and worth it? Or do you think something else would be better too?

Thanks ✈️

Last I heard, the latest version of the contract includes the repayment of bonuses, a non-compete with other 121s (excluding United, Delta, and American), but no damages repayment anymore. Is this true? If so, that’s not horrible compared to what it was. Hard to justify not taking it with silence from most regionals…

I'm a tall person and am a little worried about cockpit size if I end up in the 135 world for some time. I asked a NetJet pilot who was a bit shorter than me and he said he can't fit in some but isn't sure about me. I'm 6'5, 195.5, and would like opinions from other tall people. Are there some jets that I can't fit in? If so, which ones?

Hey all,

Any Starbucks pilots on here? Would love to hear about the job, mainly QOL.

School owner says safe as it's only the fairing. On one rear wheel leg.

Do you have a Youtube channel, Instagram account, podcast, blog, or other social media thing you'd like to promote?

This is the time and place! Do remember, though, that rule 2 ("keep it relevant to pilots") is still in full effect.

Make a comment below plugging your work and if people are interested they can consume it.

Hello fellow aviators, I’m currently a student pilot trying to get all my ratings and I’d like to hear some of you guys story. Mainly the guys/gals in the airlines. Was it worth it? Best route to take? Perks? Etc.

For context, I'm currently just trying to get an unrestricted third-class medical, so I won't need to take the MFT. At my initial medical appointment, I failed every plate on the Honeywell Titmus except for the test plate. After that, I scheduled an appointment with an optometrist for the Farnsworth lantern test. At the appointment, I attempted the Farnsworth 3 times, and failed each time, but still got some of the combinations correct. The doctor said he was curious and asked if I would be willing to take the Ishihara test just because (not quite sure why, tbh). I agreed, but I failed every plate on the Ishihara, except for the test plate. For those of you who have failed the Farnsworth and then taken the OCVT, how did it go? I can see the colors of nav lights on both planes and boats during the day and night. If anyone has insight that they would be willing to share, I would really appreciate it!

I'm looking to start flight school this summer, and ik the fees for training can get very expensive. I'm graduating high school in about 2 months, and I don't have 20-30k laying in my bank account. Help a girl out here.

I understand you can use the GI bill for flight training. Has anyone done this route and how far did the GI bill get you through flight training?

Fair warning, as this is definitely a reg trivia type of question for those who like the finer points of the FARs and is not really about the actual operating practice, basically, I know I'm already in the weeds haha.

Recently I had a flight and was trying to describe why cancelling IFR allows altitude and heading at the pilot's discretion such as when maneuvering to enter the pattern at an untowered field from a higher altitude (ex. IFR cancelled at 3000 when direct the field, pilot can maneuver to enter pattern and land). Obviously, we know ATC expects a descent when they cut you lose to CTAF and not to follow previous instructions such as the last descend and maintain clearance. At the time I was simply justifying this by describing how that under VFR, which we would be after a cancellation, everything (within reason of VFR) is our discretion, unless given a restriction like "maintain vfr at or below xyz".

Afterwards I was trying to find a reg source to back this explanation up, but want to make sure I'm thinking correctly. Would it be best to say that the reg that allows this would be 91.123? As it states "When an ATC clearance has been obtained, no pilot in command may deviate from that clearance unless an amended clearance is obtained" and that the "amended clearance" in this situation is defaulting to maintaining VFR since the IFR has been cancelled (even if the words "maintain VFR" are not said, just "IFR cancellation received, squawk VFR, freq change approved"), and thus heading and altitude is pilot's discretion under VFR.

Seems right, but also a little wonky as clearly this reg is more meant for making requesting a specific deviation such as a new cruise altitude. Thought I would see if anyone knows of any better direct FAR explanation of what allows the absolution of previous ATC instruction under IFR, or maybe it is hiding in the 7110 or something.

TLDR: Is 91.123 the best regulatory explanation of what allows altitude and heading at the pilots discretion after cancelling IFR?

I’m working on my IR and I feel like RNAV with LPV is my perfered approach. What do y’all prefer?

That I can get my EASA commercial SEP only. No instrument NO MEP. I currently hold FAA commercial SEL and SES

Looking for an USA school.

Thanks

I'm a CFI with R-ATP mins and 1050 total, 24 multi, and getting close to obtaining my xc/night requirements. I'm wondering if it would be worth getting a job at Cape Air.

I know previously they didn't have too good of a contract for FOs but I don't know if that's the case. I do like the idea of being Boston local and ending most of my days at home but I would rather that be my situation at a 121.

Anyone have advice on whether it's worth it trying them out? Also, what are we looking at for pay, hours, length of training, do they even have KCM?

I’m a CFI-I but also do a fair amount of time building split with a safety pilot. Probably 3-1 time building to instructing while working my full time job.

How does this come across in interviews? What kind’ve questions have people been asked about their time? I think I have enough breadth of experience where it shouldn’t be an inhibitor. But I see some of these time building programs offering 1000 hour blocks, what happens in these interviews when you walk in with 1200 hours day VMC no dual given, etc?

Would really love to hear the first hand experience of someone who bought all their time and was asked about flying experience in their interview.

I was shooting the VOR 5 approach into CGZ. Winds favored runway 23 so I did a circle to land. According to CFR 91.126, I should be making right traffic since Runway 23 is RP (there is a segmented circle at CGZ showing as such). The VFR sectional also states runway 23 is RP. Is there an easier way to figure out the traffic pattern when doing circle-to-land? It'd be nice if this information were on the approach plate.

Wondering if any of yall know of a Exaimner who gives fair cfi rides that do not take 10 hours.

Looking for a DPE to take my instrument checkride with. Thanks

First off, I know the market is not great right now and I’m grateful to have a choice to make. But I’m getting down to the wire and can’t decide what the best path is:

Option 1 : I have an offer from a regional that has a base in my home town (I know go where you drive to work). The base is small and there is not much flying there. Would likely be a lot of days not getting called for reserve, but still less off days each month. I worked at a regional 2 jobs ago and am typed on the aircraft already.

Option 2: I have a wide-body offer from Atlas, and would get to see the world. It’s longer trips but ultimately more days off. This job also seems like more a career progression than going back to the regionals (which I didn’t hate). I’m really trying not to let shiny-jet-fever factor in, but it’s a thought.

As an added wrinkle I also got hired at WN and had my class date pulled. I am in the pool and am hopeful (but not optimistic) that my CJO will stick. So neither choice is really my dream job, but I think I’d be equally happy at either if I got stuck there for a while.

I’ve talked to people from both companies. They all make compelling arguments for why I should go one way or another.

So ladies and gentlemen what’s the play here? I’d appreciate your insights, I haven’t been in the industry long enough to really know how things will play out.