Tag: USA

  • Commercial Pilot

    Today was The Day I was waiting for so long: I passed my commercial checkride. Now I have a FAA Commercial Pilot license ASEL (Airplane Single Engine Land). The checkride in the US has two parts: the oral and written one. During the oral part the examiner asks about airspaces, airplane systems, weather and other…

  • FAA Commercial Requirements…

    … or how to waste some money. Firstly I’d like to tell about the FAA check-ride situation in Florida: there are a lot of flight schools, there are a lot of students, and there are only 5 DPEs. In practice it means that usually one have to wait for a checkride more than a month.…

  • Bartow

    Today I finally succeeded in my efforts of trying to wake up early at the weekend. Actually it was a good reason to do it: much more chances to fly cross-country wherever you want before thunderstorm activity. Today I was going to Bartow. It is an airport in about 70 miles to the South-East. Close…

  • Lake-City

    At the weekends I used to fly from the early morning, but this Saturday I decided to sleep some more: it is not a good idea to fly if you’re tired. Today the weather was good, so it was possible to fly to Lake-City. So, why that place? First of all, the weather is much…

  • High-Performance Airplane

    Commercial pilot license requirements contain 10 hours of complex airplane flight time (at least it was so in 2018 – as far as I know, now only technically advanced aircraft time is required). Complex airplane means the one with a retractable gear, flaps and constant-speed prop. But from the April 2018 it is not required…

  • Spin Training

    Spin Training is a part of the flight instructor course, but I suppose that this training is useful for all pilots. Of course it’s better to recognize approaching spin in advance, but sometimes shit happens anyway, and it’s good to know what to do in that case. In theory the process is not very hard:…

  • Fly-in Breakfast

    Today we had a fly-in breakfast at one of the airports nearby, in about 1h of flight. This airport does not have a communication frequency, so in these cases in Florida we should use either 122.9 or 122.75. In our case it was 122.9. In spite of arriving rather early, we heard a lot of…

  • Embracing the Complexity: Commercial Maneuvers in a Multiengine Aircraft

    Currently, I am accumulating complex airplane hours to meet the commercial license requirements, opting to do so in a multi-engine aircraft. While the fundamental principles of maneuvering remain consistent between multi-engine and single-engine airplanes, the former involves additional procedures and a broader speed range. The primary distinction, for me, lies not just in the extra…

  • Navigating Summer Skies in Florida

    Summer in Florida proves more challenging than winter for flying. While it’s generally feasible to fly year-round (as we can see in nearly all flight school ads), the extended daylight hours in winter contrast with the limited 2-3 hour windows in summer, sometimes nullifying flying altogether. Anticipating thunderstorms around 2-3 pm became my routine every…

  • Embarking on Multi-Engine Adventures

    I’m embarking on my multi-engine flights. The FAA CPL mandates 10 hours in a “complex airplane”. It means retractable gear, constant speed prop and flaps. Now it changed, but in 2018 this requirement was still in effect. I was set on obtaining the Multi-Engine (ME) rating anyway, and decided to accrue my complex hours in…