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Practical guides for pilots
Plain-language explainers on the weather, briefing, and regulatory basics every pilot revisits, each grounded in primary sources. The library is just getting started.
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Guided paths
Prefer to follow a subject from the start? These ordered paths take one topic and walk through it step by step.
- 9 guides
Decode the weather
Start with the raw reports and forecasts a pilot reads before a flight and learn to decode them in order, from the routine observation to the warnings that change a plan. Work through each one and the codes stop getting in the way.
Start the path - 5 guides
Duty, rest and flight time limits
The rules that decide how long you can work and how much rest you owe yourself, taken one layer at a time. This path walks from the basic definitions out to the cumulative limits and the standby rules that sit alongside them.
Start the path - 8 guides
Plan a VFR cross-country
The decisions behind a visual cross-country in the order you make them: the airspace you will cross, the minima you fly to, the fuel you carry, the alternate you keep in reserve, and the wind across the runway at each end.
Start the path - 7 guides
Fly an instrument approach
An instrument approach in the order you fly it, from reading the plate to the decision point and the go-around. Work through each step and the chart, the minima and the missed approach stop being a wall of abbreviations.
Start the path - 6 guides
Rules of the air
The everyday rules that govern how you share the sky: who gives way, how low you may fly, when you need oxygen or special VFR, and what you must carry. Plain-language explanations of where each rule comes from, not legalese.
Start the path
TCAS and airborne collision avoidance
How TCAS watches the sky through other aircraft's transponders, what a traffic advisory and a resolution advisory demand of you, and why the RA outranks ATC.
- Operations
RNAV, RNP and GNSS explained
What performance-based navigation means: how GNSS fixes a position, what RAIM and SBAS add, RNAV versus RNP, and how to read the minima on an RNP approach.
8 min read Read - Operations
VOR, DME and NDB explained
How the classic ground-based navaids work: VOR radials and the CDI, DME slant range, the NDB and ADF, IFR accuracy checks, and where each fits in a GNSS world.
9 min read Read - Regulations
Fitness to fly: IMSAFE, alcohol and medication
The IMSAFE checklist, the FAA, EASA and UK alcohol rules and why the legal floor is not the safe ceiling, medication traps, and the scuba diving wait times.
10 min read Read - Logbook
Logging instructor time and dual given
How a flight instructor logs a training flight: dual given, PIC while instructing under the FAA and EASA, instrument instruction, and the signing duties.
6 min read Read - Regulations
Night VFR explained
What legally counts as night, whether VFR at night is allowed under EASA and the UK versus the FAA, and why Europe needs a night rating and the FAA does not.
11 min read Read - Logbook
Logging towing and aerobatic time
How glider tows, banner tows and aerobatic flight are logged and authorised: FAA rules 61.69 and 91.311 versus the EASA towing and aerobatic ratings.
11 min read Read - Briefing
The flight information service
What the flight information service is under ICAO, the UK's basic, traffic, deconfliction and procedural menu, and what none guarantees: separation.
9 min read Read - Regulations
VFR equipment requirements
What instruments and equipment a VFR flight needs by day and by night, the FAA's 91.205 lists against EASA's Part-NCO, plus the transponder as its own layer.
10 min read Read - Logbook
Converting and transferring logbooks
Moving a logbook from paper to digital or between formats without losing its value as evidence: carrying totals forward, and what EASA and the FAA require.
9 min read Read - Operations
V-speeds explained
What the V in V-speeds means, the difference between a design limit and an operating speed, and a tour of the speeds a pilot lives by, from stall to Vne.
4 min read Read - Operations
The missed approach and the go-around
The difference between a go-around and a missed approach, when each is flown, the climb gradient that protects it, and why going around early is wise.
5 min read Read - Briefing
Reading an aerodrome chart
How an aerodrome chart maps the runways, taxiways, holding positions, hot spots and aprons, and how to use it to plan a taxi and avoid a runway incursion.
7 min read Read - Operations
The Global Reporting Format for runway conditions
How the Global Reporting Format describes a contaminated runway: the condition code from 6 to 0, the assessment matrix, and the report split into thirds.
6 min read Read - Operations
Transition altitude and transition level
Where altitudes give way to flight levels, why pilots swap between local QNH and the standard 1013 setting, and the simple rule for changing the altimeter.
7 min read Read - Operations
Cold-temperature altimeter corrections
Why a pressure altimeter over-reads in cold air, leaving you lower than indicated, and how to correct minimum altitudes for temperature on an approach.
4 min read Read - Operations
Runway markings and signage
How to read aerodrome markings and signs: the white runway markings, the yellow taxiway markings, the holding-position lines, and the colour code of the signs.
7 min read Read - Operations
Reading an instrument approach chart
How an instrument approach chart is laid out: the plan view, profile, minimums box and missed approach, and how to read one in the order you will fly it.
5 min read Read - Weather
Temperature inversions and stable air
What a temperature inversion is, how it makes the air stable, and why that explains haze, fog, smooth rides, trapped pollution, low cloud and wind shear.
4 min read Read - Regulations
Class and type ratings explained
Class rating versus type rating, what each lets you fly, and how EASA's revalidated ratings compare with the FAA's certificate-based system.
8 min read Read - Operations
SIDs and STARs explained
What standard instrument departures and arrival routes are, why they exist, and how to read the climb gradients and crossing restrictions on them.
4 min read Read - Weather
Mountain waves and rotor
How stable air over high ground sets up mountain waves and the violent rotor beneath, the cloud signs that reveal them, and why they deserve respect.
4 min read Read - Weather
Pressure systems: highs, lows, ridges and troughs
What highs, lows, ridges and troughs are, the weather each brings, which way the wind circulates around them, and how to read them on a pressure chart.
7 min read Read - Briefing
ICAO vs IATA codes explained
The 4-letter ICAO location indicators used for flight planning and weather versus the 3-letter IATA codes on your boarding pass, plus airline codes.
3 min read Read - Briefing
Temporary airspace restrictions
What temporary flight restrictions are, why they are imposed, and how the US TFR compares with the UK restricted area and emergency restriction of flying.
7 min read Read - Weather
How to read a surface analysis chart
Decode a surface analysis chart: isobars and the pressure gradient, highs and lows, warm, cold and occluded fronts, and the big picture before the METAR.
4 min read Read - Weather
Volcanic ash and the SIGMET
Why volcanic ash is so dangerous to aircraft, how Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres and SIGMETs warn you, and why an ash SIGMET runs longer and starts earlier.
4 min read Read - Weather
The jet stream and clear-air turbulence
What a jet stream is, where it sits near the tropopause, and why the wind shear around it produces clear-air turbulence that arrives with no cloud to warn you.
5 min read Read - Operations
The traffic circuit
The legs of the circuit or traffic pattern, why most are flown left-hand, and the difference between the UK overhead join and the US 45-degree entry.
7 min read Read - Operations
Top of descent and the 3:1 rule
How to work out your top of descent with the 3:1 rule, the 60-to-1 relationship behind it, and the rate of descent that holds a roughly 3 degree path.
4 min read Read - Operations
The 250-knot speed limit and other airspace speed rules
Why a 250-knot limit applies below 10,000 feet, the slower 200-knot limits near busy airspace, and how the FAA and EASA wordings line up and differ.
6 min read Read - Weather
Cloud types and what they tell a pilot
The ten cloud genera grouped high, middle and low, heaped versus layered cloud, and how to read what each tells you about stability and the weather ahead.
4 min read Read - Regulations
Medical certificates explained
The classes of aviation medical and what each allows: the FAA's first, second and third class against EASA's Class 1, Class 2 and LAPL, with validity by age.
8 min read Read - Briefing
The offline-first preflight briefing
What the rules require you to check before flight, how to build a self-brief, and the honest difference between offline-first and working fully offline.
4 min read Read - Operations
Wake turbulence categories and separation
Why aircraft trail wingtip vortices, the ICAO Light, Medium, Heavy and Super categories by take-off mass, and how wake separation keeps a follower clear.
3 min read Read - Briefing
VOLMET and recorded weather broadcasts
What VOLMET is, how HF and VHF broadcasts deliver weather to aircraft in flight, and how it differs from ATIS and the automated surface observing systems.
7 min read Read - Weather
Turbulence reporting and intensity scales
What light, moderate, severe and extreme turbulence mean, why intensity is judged by the aircraft's reaction rather than a guess, and how pilots report it.
3 min read Read - Logbook
Logging multi-crew and cruise-relief time
How pilots log time in a multi-pilot aircraft: P1 and P2, pilot-in-command under supervision, cruise relief, and how EASA roles map onto FAA PIC and SIC.
8 min read Read - Weather
The tropopause and where weather lives
What the tropopause is, why it sits higher over the equator than the poles, and why nearly all of a pilot's weather happens in the troposphere below it.
4 min read Read - Operations
Stabilised approaches and CDFA
Why a continuous descent final approach beats dive-and-drive, what a stabilised approach means, and where the 1000 ft and 500 ft gate heights come from.
4 min read Read - Weather
Sea and land breezes
Why coastal winds reverse between day and night, how a sea breeze and a sea-breeze front form, and what the diurnal circulation means for a coastal aerodrome.
7 min read Read - Briefing
Decoding the ICAO flight plan
A field-by-field decode of the ICAO flight plan: Item 10 equipment and capabilities, Item 18 other information, and the codes that trip filers up.
4 min read Read - Operations
Minimum safe altitudes: MSA, MORA, MEA, MOCA and MEF
The family of minimum altitudes that keep you clear of terrain and obstacles, what each one guarantees, and which also promise a usable navigation signal.
5 min read Read - Weather
Aircraft icing explained
How airframe ice forms, the difference between rime, clear and mixed ice, why supercooled large droplets are so dangerous, and where to find the forecast.
6 min read Read - Regulations
Position and anti-collision lights
An aircraft's navigation and anti-collision lights, the red-left green-right convention, when each must be shown, and how SERA.3215 and 14 CFR 91.209 compare.
9 min read Read - Operations
Mode S and ADS-B explained
How Mode S adds a 24-bit address, selective interrogation and a data link, elementary versus enhanced surveillance, and how ADS-B broadcasts position.
4 min read Read - Weather
TAF change groups: TEMPO, BECMG, PROB and FM
A deeper look at the change groups that make a TAF a forecast: the meaning of FM, BECMG, TEMPO and PROB, with a worked example that decodes them in order.
5 min read Read - Weather
The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA)
What the ICAO International Standard Atmosphere is, its sea-level values and lapse rate, and how ISA deviation underpins altimetry and density altitude.
3 min read Read - Operations
PAPI and VASI visual glidepath
How the PAPI and VASI light systems show whether you are high or low on the approach, what the white and red lights mean, and the mnemonics for each.
7 min read Read - Briefing
Understanding NOTAMs
What a NOTAM is, how the ICAO format and Q-line are built, the difference between NOTAMN, NOTAMR and NOTAMC, and how to deal with NOTAM overload.
4 min read Read - Logbook
Recency and currency
The difference between being legally current and proficient, with the EASA and FAA recent-experience rules for passengers, night and instrument flight.
5 min read Read - Briefing
Decoding a SNOWTAM
What a SNOWTAM reports, how it carries the runway condition code for each third of the runway under the global reporting format, and how to read one.
9 min read Read - Operations
Mach number, true airspeed and the speed of sound
How the speed of sound depends on temperature, why Mach number rises as you climb at constant true airspeed, and how true airspeed and Mach relate.
3 min read Read - Weather
Density altitude and aircraft performance
What density altitude is, how to estimate it from pressure altitude and temperature, and why hot, high and humid conditions rob an aircraft of performance.
5 min read Read - Logbook
Logging solo and student time
How a student pilot logs dual and solo flying, what supervised solo and student pilot-in-command mean, and what an instructor signs under EASA and the FAA.
8 min read Read - Regulations
Standby and reserve duty
What standby and reserve mean, how EASA airport standby differs from home standby, the FAA's three types of reserve, and how standby cuts into the maximum FDP.
11 min read Read - Regulations
Aircraft documents you must carry
What paperwork has to be aboard before you fly: the US ARROW documents, the longer EASA list under NCO.GEN.135, and where the two systems differ.
7 min read Read - Briefing
The AIP and the AIRAC cycle
What an Aeronautical Information Publication is, how its GEN, ENR and AD parts are organised, and why aeronautical data changes on the fixed 28-day AIRAC cycle.
4 min read Read - Logbook
Pilot function and logging roles
What P1, PICUS, P2 and dual mean under EASA, how the FAA categories differ, and the difference between logging PIC time and being the pilot in command.
10 min read Read - Operations
Crosswind components
How to resolve a wind into crosswind and headwind components, a worked example, the sine rule of thumb, and what a demonstrated crosswind really is.
4 min read Read - Operations
Decision altitude and minimum descent altitude
The difference between a decision altitude and a minimum descent altitude, why one is a gate and the other a floor, and how DH and MDH fit in.
8 min read Read - Weather
Altimetry: QNH, QFE and the standard setting
What QNH, QFE and the standard setting do to your altimeter, the difference between transition altitude and level, and the EASA and FAA conventions.
7 min read Read - Operations
Squawk codes and transponders explained
What a transponder squawk code is, the difference between Mode A, C and S, and the emergency codes 7500, 7600 and 7700 every pilot must know.
4 min read Read - Briefing
How to read a PIREP
Decode a pilot weather report field by field, the UA and UUA types and the slash-coded elements, and see how a PIREP fills the gaps between stations.
6 min read Read - Regulations
Supplemental oxygen requirements
When the rules require oxygen for crew and passengers, why the thresholds are cabin altitudes, and how 14 CFR 91.211 and EASA NCO.OP.190 differ.
8 min read Read - Regulations
Cumulative duty and flying-hour limits
How the rolling 28-day, annual and weekly limits on flight time and duty work, why a rolling window is not a calendar month, with EASA and FAA figures.
9 min read Read - Weather
Fog, mist and the dewpoint spread
Why the gap between temperature and dewpoint predicts fog, the difference between mist and fog in a METAR, and the main fog types from radiation to advection.
9 min read Read - Briefing
Significant weather (SIGWX) charts
What a significant weather chart forecasts, the CB, turbulence, icing and jet-stream symbols it uses, and how it differs from a surface analysis chart.
8 min read Read - Logbook
Logging night flying time
How night is defined for logging under the FAA and EASA, why the FAA has two nights, what civil twilight means, and how to find the night portion.
9 min read Read - Briefing
Choosing an alternate aerodrome
When an alternate is required, the FAA 1-2-3 rule and alternate minimums, the EASA planning-minima approach, and the practical weather and runway checks.
8 min read Read - Logbook
Flight time, block time and air time
The time definitions a logbook uses: why flight time runs chock to chock, how air time differs, and why the figure you log is not the time you were airborne.
8 min read Read - Briefing
What is in a Pre-flight Information Bulletin
What a PIB is, how it packages the NOTAMs for your route, the difference between aerodrome, area and route bulletins, and why it is a snapshot to refresh.
8 min read Read - Weather
Air masses and fronts
What an air mass is and how it gets its character, the difference between warm, cold and occluded fronts, and the weather each one brings to a flight.
7 min read Read - Weather
Wind shear and low-level wind shear
What wind shear is, why microbursts and gust fronts are so dangerous near the ground, how it changes aircraft performance, and the warnings that flag it.
9 min read Read - Weather
How to read a SIGMET and an AIRMET
What SIGMETs and AIRMETs warn of, the phenomena codes, how long each stays valid, and a worked SIGMET decoded field by field, with the US differences.
6 min read Read - Operations
Declared distances: TORA, TODA, ASDA and LDA
What the four declared distances mean, how clearway and stopway extend them, and why the length of runway you can actually use is rarely just the runway.
4 min read Read - Regulations
Special VFR explained
What a special VFR clearance is, the visibility and cloud conditions that come with it, the day and night limits, and how SERA.5010 and 14 CFR 91.157 differ.
8 min read Read - Regulations
Rest requirements and minimum rest
What counts as a rest period, how EASA and the FAA set the minimum rest before duty, the sleep opportunity, and the weekly rest that limits fatigue.
9 min read Read - Weather
Thunderstorms and convective weather
What makes a thunderstorm, the three stages of its life, the hazards from turbulence to hail and microbursts, and how the convective SIGMET warns you.
8 min read Read - Briefing
NOTAM categories and time windows
How NOTAMs are sorted by scope and subject, how the validity fields B, C and D set the time window, and what PERM and EST mean for triage.
9 min read Read - Operations
Non-precision approaches
What makes an approach non-precision, the VOR, NDB, localiser and RNAV types, why they use a minimum descent altitude, and how APV approaches sit in between.
7 min read Read - Regulations
Fuel planning and reserves
Why a flight carries more fuel than the trip needs: the ICAO baseline, the FAA's VFR and IFR reserves, and EASA's general-aviation and commercial schemes.
8 min read Read - Logbook
Logging instrument time
What counts as instrument time, actual versus simulated conditions, why an IFR flight plan is not enough, and what the FAA and EASA require you to record.
7 min read Read - Briefing
Reading an IFR enroute chart
How an IFR enroute chart depicts the airway network: the airways and their tracks, the minimum altitudes, the fixes, navaids and frequencies.
8 min read Read - Weather
Reading winds and temperatures aloft
How to decode a winds and temperatures aloft forecast, the coding trick for strong winds, with a worked example and how to use it for cruise planning.
8 min read Read - Weather
How to read an ATIS
What the ATIS broadcast contains, how the information letter and runway-in-use work, how it differs from a METAR, and the EASA/UK and FAA conventions.
7 min read Read - Logbook
Logging simulator and FSTD time
How synthetic training time is logged, the FFS, FTD, FNPT, BITD and ATD device categories, and where simulator time does and does not count.
7 min read Read - Operations
Holding patterns explained
The standard holding pattern, how the legs are timed, the three entry procedures, and the maximum holding speeds, with ICAO and FAA figures attributed.
4 min read Read - Regulations
Minimum heights and low-flying rules
How low you may legally fly: the congested-area and 500 ft rules, the open-air assembly trap, and how SERA.5005 and 14 CFR 91.119 compare.
9 min read Read - Regulations
Flight time limitations explained
Flight time, duty, flight duty period and rest explained, with the EASA/UK CAA and FAA limits attributed. Numbers differ, so check the current rule.
5 min read Read - Weather
Setting personal weather minimums
What personal minimums are, how to build a set from ceiling, visibility and wind, and how to use the PAVE and IMSAFE checklists to keep your own limits honest.
7 min read Read - Regulations
VFR weather minima and cruising levels
The visibility and distance-from-cloud minima for visual flight, and the semicircular cruising-level rule, with the ICAO, EASA and FAA figures attributed.
4 min read Read - Weather
Runway visual range (RVR)
What RVR is, how a transmissometer or forward-scatter meter measures it, why it differs from reported visibility, and how to decode the RVR group.
7 min read Read - Operations
Mass and balance basics
What datum, arm, moment and centre of gravity mean, how to work a centre-of-gravity calculation step by step, and why the envelope matters, not just mass.
4 min read Read - Briefing
Decoding NOTAM Q-codes and abbreviations
A deeper guide to the NOTAM Q-line: the five-letter Q-code, the traffic, purpose and scope qualifiers, the height and coordinate fields, and contractions.
8 min read Read - Weather
How to read a TAF
Decode a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast: the FM, BECMG, TEMPO and PROB change groups, the validity period, and how a forecast differs from a METAR.
5 min read Read - Operations
The ILS explained
How an instrument landing system works: the localiser, the glideslope, the marker beacons, and the CAT I, II and III categories that set how low you can go.
9 min read Read - Regulations
Acclimatisation and crossing time zones
How your body clock changes the flight duty period you may fly, how EASA and the FAA define an acclimatised state, and what the circadian low is.
11 min read Read - Logbook
Keeping a digital logbook
What a pilot logbook has to record and why, plus the EASA/UK and FAA differences in logging pilot-in-command time, night, and recency that catch people out.
5 min read Read - Briefing
Reading a VFR aeronautical chart
How a VFR chart depicts airspace, terrain and aerodromes, why the legend is the key to everything, and how an ICAO chart and a US sectional differ.
7 min read Read - Briefing
How aviation data goes stale
Every weather and NOTAM product has an issue time and a validity. Here is how METARs, TAFs and NOTAMs expire once you are offline, and why timing matters.
8 min read Read - Weather
Flight rules: VFR, MVFR, IFR and LIFR
What the colour-coded flight categories mean, the ceiling and visibility boundaries set by the NWS and FAA, and why a category is not the legal VFR minima.
7 min read Read - Regulations
Right-of-way rules in the air
Who gives way when two aircraft meet: the converging, head-on and overtaking rules, the category hierarchy, and how SERA.3210 and 14 CFR 91.113 line up.
9 min read Read - Operations
Airspace classes explained
The ICAO airspace classes A to G, the service and separation each one provides, and how the US, Europe and the UK implement the same letters differently.
6 min read Read - Logbook
Logging cross-country time
What counts as cross-country time, why the FAA ties it to distance thresholds for some ratings while EASA does not, and how to log it without overclaiming.
7 min read Read - Weather
How to read a METAR
A plain-language guide to decoding a METAR field by field, with a worked example and the EASA/UK and FAA differences that trip pilots up.
5 min read Read - Regulations
Duty time, flight time and the flight duty period
The four terms behind every fatigue rule, how the maximum flight duty period is built from report time and sectors, and how EASA and the FAA differ.
10 min read Read