We Help You Pass
Our free online study guide really works. You can study for your FAA private pilot ground school exam right now. For more info about the 4VFR.COM project, click here. You can find a daily update log here.
Live ATC Audio Streams
Tune into live air traffic control frequencies from North America. This feature requires Real player. Start listening to ATC now!
Reference Library
Our glossary lists and databases have grown quickly. I am working to create an on-line reference library to tie together all the loose ends. You can check out what is currently available in the library
FAA Practice Exam - New!
Introducing our newly enhanced practice exam. Now with figures!. Take a test a day for a week, and I guarantee you will do better on your exam. Get Started Now!
Show your support for 4VFR.COM - Link us. Bookmark us. Tell your mother about us. Press CTRL-D to bookmark this site now!. Check out one of our proposed T-Shirt Designs.
Feature Article: Visualizing Your Training
A student pilot, or any other pilot for that matter, can practice
flying even while not in a plane. A situation can be visualized
and simulated actions can be practiced. Flying is not only with
the mind but can and should be in the mind. In your mind, plan
ahead of a flight for the combinations of controls, attitudes
and maneuvers required to put the aircraft where you want it.
Skill is best demonstrated by the manner in which a particular
maneuver follows your 'in the mind' planning.
At some point in your training the instructor may cover the airspeed
indicator and have you "feel", sense and visualize the
aircraft as it proceeds. With allowances for the density altitude
and wind you should be able to "visualize" the aircraft
around the pattern to a landing. Some flying skill will be acquired
subconsciously, but in the main the student will need to rely
on their physical senses to control the aircraft. Sight will always
be the primary sense for your flying. In the beginning maximize
your use of the external sight picture. There will be plenty of
time to learn to relate the sight picture to the instrument picture.
The other senses have information that is available in the noise,
smell, and feel of pressure and vibration. We feel changes in
vibration frequency and amplitude. The senses combine to give
the pilot an over all feeling of what is both right and wrong
with the aircraft. Hearing is a neglected sense. A student wants
to learn the several 'constants' of engine rpm and airspeed sounds.
The sense of touch is the most neglected sense. You can only 'feel'
an airplane when holding it lightly, very lightly. The sense of
smell is best utilized as a danger sense. You can learn the smell
of the aircraft when it is performing well. Any other smell serves
as a warning. A change in your sensory perception of aircraft
performance is the first alert to take precautionary action. You
should never spell fuel. The last sense to get the fine-tuning
required to fly well is the sense of sight. With practice of the
right kind, you will begin to see the nose and horizon relationship
that exists in every flight situation. It takes time.
Speed is set visually; touch and kinesthetic sensitivity sense
speed changes. If you do not sense these changes you are more
apt to misuse the rudder. The body can sense, and be ever more
sensitive to the side pressures of a slip or a skid. Modern aircraft
make it possible for a pilot to fly dangerously well without being
sensitive to an uncoordinated rudder.
The ability to anticipate changes in control pressures required
for a particular maneuver must be developed. Failure to anticipate
the rudder movement required to move the nose as airspeed decreases
is a most common flight error. The behavior of instruments such
as the airspeed indicator and vertical speed indicator that lag
in relation to sound and attitude changes must be expected and
understood. Chasing the airspeed indicator is a common student
fault. Even worse is not recognizing that the VSI takes about
12 seconds before giving accuracy indications unless the control
movements are exceptionally smooth. Starting the trim from a known
position and keeping track of its movements in various flight
configurations makes possible rapid/correct trim pressure corrections.
You should accept every opportunity to review your basic skills
by airwork and ground reference. This is not a waste of time or
money. Exercises that improve your ability to make wind-drift
corrections and timing will improve your airport pattern work.
You need to make adjustments by anticipation. The only reason
your instructor 'knows' when you are high. low, wide, too fast
or slow is because of his experience in anticipation. Do whatever
it takes to place your aircraft where you want it.
Do you fly around, below, above certain areas to avoid communications?
Do you try to enter a certain way into an airport and to avoid
others? Do you avoid crosswind-landing opportunities when they
become available. Do you ignore practice in ground reference,
stalls, slow flight, and night proficiency? Challenge your weaknesses
until they become areas of strength.
Last Modified December 31, ©2025 TAGE.COM
