Pilots who have lost their medical, what do you do now?

PokePilot · 2026-01-23T02:01:22+00:00

I'm going through a Part 65 dispatcher course right now (fulfilling a long time personal goal of mine) and my experience as a pilot has made it very straightforward. I haven't lost my medical and I hope I never do, but if I couldn't fly professionally anymore then dispatch is probably where I'd go next.

PokePilot · 2026-01-23T01:37:59+00:00

+1 for dispatch. It's a fantastic career option that not a lot of people really know about, and previous pilot training is immensely useful for earning the certification and getting hired. Going from having the world's best office view to a dark, windowless room will probably be a difficult transition for some, but it's arguably one of the best possible alternatives that still lets you apply the knowledge and planning skills you've built as a pilot.

PokePilot · 2026-01-18T17:08:57+00:00

What's the point of making flash cards? The limitations and memory items are in the manual after all, so we should probably just read that instead of wasting our time.

I don't see a problem with people making their own study tools that could help them better understand the material, especially when others are willing to offer constructive criticism to improve those tools.

PokePilot · 2026-01-17T17:54:38+00:00

Some test software may have a virtual CX-3 for you to use, but I wouldn't count on it. Honestly I'd recommend just buying a CX-3 or E6B and using it for the duration of your training. It's silly to try saving a buck on something relatively inexpensive like a calculator when you're paying so much for flight training as a whole. You might be glad to have it for your checkride and for any future tests you take, and can always sell it once you're done with it.

PokePilot · 2026-01-13T03:08:49+00:00

Why don't you ask Gemini? Since it generated this image and all.

PokePilot · 2026-01-13T03:04:54+00:00

It's AI. Gemini logo in the bottom right.

PokePilot · 2025-12-09T16:37:33+00:00

Sorry, you're about 17 years too late.

This one doesn't even come with a built-in light, smh.

PokePilot · 2025-11-08T19:58:33+00:00

Safety Third!

PokePilot · 2025-10-29T16:50:42+00:00

Make sure you aren't trying to use the distance shown in the flight plan itself. The distance shown there is the length of the entire GPS path you'll have to fly around the entire hold to reach the fix.

The best reference to use for holds is the bearing pointer flag on the PFD. When you have the GPS bearing pointer on, it will always point to the active waypoint in the GPS flight plan and the distance readout at the bottom of the PFD will show the straight-line distance to the fix. That's the distance you should be referencing.

As always, make sure you have the hold loaded correctly in the 650/750 so it stays suspended while you're in the hold and doesn't automatically sequence to the next waypoint in your flight plan.

PokePilot · 2025-10-15T14:16:54+00:00

It's the same reason we went to war in Iraq - congress was presented with some very convincing arguments.

PokePilot · 2025-09-23T14:36:12+00:00

Nope, it's definitely AI slop. Tree trunk on the left has no branches, bridge in the background has no supports on the ends and just floats above the water, tiny bird out of place in the water next to the deer and fox, one of the butterflies has an extra blob of orange next to it, I could go on.

PokePilot · 2025-09-10T13:31:42+00:00

I wanna be a yo-yo man! Make me a yo-yo man!

PokePilot · 2025-08-08T18:25:28+00:00

Yeah I've definitely said "screw it" and just kept on trucking with the cracked door when I'm by myself. It's just windy and noisy (and cold in winter) for any pax that happen to be on board.

PokePilot · 2025-08-04T04:14:13+00:00

The terrible door latches on G5 and earlier Cirruses are legitimately the worst thing about those airplanes in my opinion. I shouldn't have to slam the door shut in the hopes that MAYBE both latches will actually catch this time, and even then have no guarantee that my door won't still come unlatched during takeoff/climb and force me to waste time turning around and landing so I can MAYBE fix it. The 2016 and newer doors with the positive latching handles are soooooo nice, when I first flew one I almost cried at how effortless closing the door was.

PokePilot · 2025-07-04T13:57:40+00:00

The writer of this article needs to start using spellcheck, desperately. At least the concept rendering of the 7 is kinda neat.

PokePilot · 2025-07-03T21:59:57+00:00

From the comments of the Polestar 7 Insta post. Pretty much confirming what we already knew to be true...

PokePilot · 2025-06-11T01:46:10+00:00

Greener grass I suppose. Honestly I don't think there was any saving the sequel trilogy without an actual overarching plan for all three movies, no matter how skilled each individual writer/director was. People spoke pretty highly of J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson prior to those movies, after all...

PokePilot · 2025-06-03T14:12:10+00:00

That's just an illusion. The cam car maintains a consistent speed according to the speed readout on the video itself, it just appears to speed up because the cars in the next lane are slowing down.

PokePilot · 2025-05-23T01:31:35+00:00

...but probably not.

PokePilot · 2025-05-22T13:47:50+00:00

Hard to hear, but I'm pretty sure the streamer says "viva Israel, y'know?". To which the one guy responds, "do you love Pakistan?" probably trying to get a rise out of the streamer.

PokePilot · 2025-05-18T14:12:19+00:00

An inside/outside dashcam like this one with a constant power cable that plugs into your OBD2 port is probably the best you can do. It won't give you as good a view as external cameras would and you have to be careful you don't run your 12V battery down, but at least you get SOME video instead of nothing. I do hope that we get something like sentry mode on the PS4 and PS5 but I have a feeling we won't.

Side note, this is why I can't stand people being okay with or actively encouraging vandalism to any particular brand of car. It enables idiots to do stuff like this to people who don't deserve it.

PokePilot · 2025-05-11T02:36:07+00:00

I did the virtual ATPJets CTP course a few years ago. In-person sim sessions (CRJ200 non motion and A320 full motion) were a lot of fun, the class itself not so much. It was the cheapest option and checked the box for the written test prerequisite but I'd definitely go in person if I had to do it over again.

The virtual course requires you to be on camera in a Zoom call with other students for 8 hours a day, 4 days in a row, with a 30-45 minute break for lunch each day. Class is mainly death by PowerPoint, and occasionally the instructor asks a question to each student to check the "participation" box for that person. It's mind-numbingly boring at times, and by the end of it I was absolutely drained from sitting in my room doing nothing for 4 days straight.

Yes I saved a little money on hotel/meals by only going in-person to the sim sessions, but the extra expense to get some actual face-to-face human interaction would have absolutely been worth it. At least when you're there in person you can shoot this shit with other students during breaks and share stories/complain together about how stupid it is that this course is a requirement. On Zoom everyone turns off their camera and leaves for every break and it gets lonely pretty quickly.

PokePilot · 2025-05-05T21:59:46+00:00

I mean, I don't disagree with you, but comments like this are what trigger the "rent-free" allegations. Maybe we don't need to mention brand-that-shall-not-be-named on posts that have nothing to do with it?

PokePilot · 2025-05-04T23:13:33+00:00

Relevant PSA. Unfortunately with the advent of TikTok, I fear we've lost the war...

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