Learn
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.
29 guides
- Operations
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.
6 min read Read - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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
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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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