Category: Airplane

  • Exam Success: Reflections on Passing the EASA PPL Written Exams

    Today, I passed the remaining written exam subjects for my private pilot course. I described my first attempt here. One nice surprise was that retaking the exams is totally free in the Czech Republic. I had assumed that I would have to pay for each attempt, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this…

  • Exploring Karlovy Vary from the Air: Flying to the Controlled Airspace

    Karlovy Vary is a stunning location, with its lakes and buildings appearing even more breathtaking from a bird’s eye view. As part of my private pilot training curriculum, I had the opportunity to fly to the CTR (control zone) today, and I was taken aback by the high workload. Although the flight was almost identical…

  • Exploring New Aerodromes: A Pilot’s Perspective on Grass Runways

    I enjoy exploring new aerodromes as they may appear similar, but each one has its unique characteristics. While I acknowledge that my experience as a pilot was still limited when I wrote this post, I believe this holds true for much more experienced pilots as well. I’ve already shared my thoughts about grass and concrete…

  • Grass or Concrete: Which is Better for Landing and Why It Matters

    Grass or Concrete: Which is Better for Landing and Why It Matters

    Which surface is better for landing? For some reason, I prefer concrete. While grass is softer and results in an easier and gentler touchdown, concrete is flatter and smoother. Moreover, taking off from a concrete runway is definitely better. However, I understand the importance of gaining experience on grass strips, particularly for bush pilot jobs.…

  • Leveling Up: Improving My Landings on a Grass Strip

    I had a lot of landings on the grass. In fact, I had REALLY a lot of landings on the grass. Today, I flew patterns on the aerodrome with a grass strip. During my flight today, I made many landings. The main takeaway is that I finally feel like I am in control of the…

  • New Instructor, New Experiences: Navigating Towards Successful Landings

    I have a new instructor again, and I’m hoping that he will stay with me until I pass my checkride. While it can be fun to fly with different people, I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of overlap between exercises, which means I end up flying more hours than necessary. While the experience is valuable…

  • Italian Mountain Soaring: Conquering Tiny Landing Spots

    Italian Mountain Soaring: Conquering Tiny Landing Spots

    I am continuing on my hang-gliding journey, and today I am flying a different hang-glider, which is also 21 sq meters but has a stiffer sail. It is much easier to control, but the start is more difficult and the flight is lower. I completed 24 “takeoff-flight-landing” exercises straight ahead and 4 flights with a…

  • Emergency Landings and Partial Panel Simulations

    This morning visibility was terrible. It was so bad that I almost lost hope of flying today, but in the afternoon, it improved, and the weather became flyable. Let’s go! Today we’re moving on to circuits, but sometimes the instructor sets the power to idle and says, “emergency landing.” He usually does this when I…

  • Taking Flight: Exploring the Different Approaches of Flight Instructors

    Today, I would like to share my personal opinion on flight instructors. When I started my PPL training, the training base was just established and did not have permanent staff, so I flew with different instructors. Firstly, I want to discuss some aspects that I knew in theory but did not always follow in practice,…

  • Weathering the Skies: A Welcome Change from Bumpy Rides

    When I used to fly short cross-countries, it was a bumpy ride. After takeoff, I would climb through a rollercoaster of turbulence, turn to the desired course, and try to maintain straight and level flight while constantly adjusting the trim and RPM. Suddenly, the VSI would show +5, so I would correct and trim, only…