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OperationsOperations
This is the practical side of flying a route: airspace, runway distances, mass and balance, holding, and flying a stable approach. These guides cover the numbers and procedures that shape how a leg is planned and flown.
13 guides
- 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 in mountainous or freezing conditions.
4 min read Read - Operations
Mode S and ADS-B explained
How Mode S adds a 24-bit address, selective interrogation and a data link to the transponder, the difference between elementary and enhanced surveillance, and how ADS-B broadcasts your GPS position.
4 min read Read - Operations
The Global Reporting Format for runway conditions
How the Global Reporting Format (GRF) describes a contaminated runway, including the runway condition code (RWYCC) from 6 to 0, the assessment matrix (RCAM), and how the report is split into thirds.
5 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, with a worked example.
4 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 a constant true airspeed, and how indicated, calibrated, true airspeed and Mach relate.
3 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.
3 min read Read - Operations
Wake turbulence categories and separation
Why aircraft trail wingtip vortices, the ICAO Light, Medium, Heavy and Super categories by maximum take-off mass, and how wake separation keeps a following aircraft clear.
3 min read Read - Operations
Stabilised approaches and CDFA
Why a continuous descent final approach beats dive-and-drive, what a stabilised approach actually means, and where the 1000 ft and 500 ft gate heights come from.
4 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.
4 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 staying inside the envelope matters as much as staying under the maximum mass.
4 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 - Operations
Crosswind components
How to resolve a reported wind into its crosswind and headwind components with simple trigonometry, a worked example, the sine rule of thumb, and what a maximum demonstrated crosswind really is.
4 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 the ICAO and FAA figures attributed because they differ.
4 min read Read