Prior to takeoff, pilots run the engine to a high power setting and confirm various system operation levels, including the ignition system. Occasionally, a rough or underperforming engine would result in the pilot abandoning the flight and taxiing back to the parking area. San Carlos Flight Center checklists include shorthand references to guide pilots what
NOTE: Since this event will involve active discussion, it will be held over Zoom and not broadcast via Livestream. Please RSVP by 12pm on the day of the seminar to receive Zoom meeting info via email before the event starts. Most pilots like analyzing scenarios and trying to answer the age old question of what would
We love hearing about flights to interesting places and hearing the experiences of the pilots along the way. What went well? What did you see? What was different about operating there compared to airport hops around the SF Bay Area? San Carlos Flight Center invites in Nick Pliam, ATP, to share the story of this
You may be familiar with planning and accomplishing VFR and IFR flights within the contiguous United States, but have you ever wondered how long, overwater international airline flights are planned and executed? How do you aviate, navigate, and communicate over remote areas of the world? What if something goes wrong half way across the ocean?
It is a typical day in the Bay Area with low ceilings. You are instrument current and ready to depart. Filing your IFR flight plan you hesitate for a moment on the field for alternate airports. You ponder for a moment to remember when are pilots required to file an alternate airport? What constitutes an
You are on glidepath descending towards the runway and as you break through the clouds, you see the bright approach lighting systems verifying you’re on path to the runway. With so many different types of lighting systems, colors, and positions, do you really know their significance? San Carlos Flight Center invites CFII Brian Eliot to
VFR charts pack an extraordinary amount of material and represent a 3-dimensional world of terrain and airspaces in 2 dimensions. With such a wealth of information, do you really know how to read them? For example, do you know how to identify where certain VFR reporting waypoints are on a chart? Or can you
Want to know what is actually happening up at altitude? The best way to get that is to hear from pilots who are up there. Pilot reports (PIREPs) are a crucial part of the weather picture. It doesn’t matter if we’re flying VFR or IFR, PIREPs are the nowcast of aviation weather: what’s actually happening out
CFI Herb Patten and Aviation Mechanic Charles Rudolf invite pilots and student pilots into the SCFC maintenance hangar for a closer look at airplane engines and systems, including details of the fuel, ignition, induction and more in this in-person workshop. This is your chance to look "under the cowling" in a way that goes deeper
Watching airplanes and helicopters as shown in TV shows and movies, is a mixed bag for a pilot. Sometimes, the joy of flying and the procedural integrity is high, and we get to share a bit of our flying world with others. However, more often the entertainment industry gets it very wrong, and we cringe
