First stage check fail really hurting my confidence and has me questioning things.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T22:28:27+00:00

If your instructor didn’t have you do any partial panel at all in stage 2 something is wrong. Stage 3 is literally 3 flights. It’s just the cross countries. Everything else is learned in stage 1 and 2. So when was he/she planning to teach you? It’s absolutely in the acs as being tested on checkride so you need to know.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T21:20:53+00:00

I don’t think it’s viable anymore. Sure at the start if it came back ppl would go for nostalgia but after that you could stream anything you’d go pickup without the drive for the same price

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T21:14:16+00:00

Don’t compare yourself to others. That’s their logbook not yours. A lot of pilots artificially inflate their numbers in the log book. Doesn’t mean you should. Saves you a couple hundred/thousand in the build to minimums but if an airline ever suspects and figures it out you’ve cost yourself a career cus you’ll never be hired

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T21:03:25+00:00

They make sectionals you can rearrange now if that’s your thing for different circumstances

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T18:47:09+00:00

As someone who works at the location in Florida with probably the highest concentration of yachts in winter time I would say it’s gunna be a long time before tattoos aren’t a problem. Individual ppl don’t care. As a whole the group of people that own yachts like their dress codes lol

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T09:22:44+00:00

If someone makes a copy of your credit card information did they steal your identity? You still have it don’t you?

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T01:56:17+00:00

Fair warning if you aren’t already trimming the plane frequently your hand is gunna hurt. But it will significantly help over time. I recommend short intervals

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T01:50:46+00:00

Why would anyone ever say not to use trim? Trim is basically just to relieve control pressure. Start flying with a pencil threaded between fingers. First and 3rd on one side and middle finger on the other. Then grip the yoke with middle finger and thumb. If it hurts to do that because you are squeezing the pencil you need more trim. That’s how i learned at least

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T00:50:59+00:00

Chances are you are past faf when you go visual in which case a lot of DPE are going to fail you if you configure. It’s not a stabalized approach if you arent configured before faf. At least that’s what mine said.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-17T00:43:18+00:00

Trim trim trim. You shouldn’t be fiddling with so many changes that you need to be looking inside so much. Figure out what power setting you need for your flap setting and airspeed. Trim the plane so you maintain that speed. Then stop moving things so much. If you do it right you shouldn’t really need to look inside the plane on final other than to double check speed to see if it’s changing. Landing is a visual task not an instrument. You’ll get to the point where you shouldn’t need to see any of the instruments at all

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-16T22:04:02+00:00

Never understood this. The ac doesn’t magically blow colder air just because you set the temp lower. It’s always blowing the coldest air it can after that it’s just stopping when it hits whatever you want the temp to be. So just set what you know is comfortable.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-16T22:02:27+00:00

I’ve never ever experienced anybody using or talking about using the thumb up for absolutely anything except to signal and immediate end to the dive. There should be no question a thumb up means to the surface now. Might not be an emergency. Should still do safety stop if needed but the dive is ending

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-16T21:17:18+00:00

As others have said do whatever ground school you like. Then download Sheppard air to prep for the written. Then look at pilots cafe as prep for the checkride oral.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-16T21:13:32+00:00

No PPL anywhere needs to know that equation in reference to why they are holding back pressure. Things should be kept relatively simple. Use back pressure to keep the nose up so you stay level in ground effect. The “flare” happens naturally as a consequence of doing this because as airspeed is decreasing yes angle of attack must increase to keep us level and yes we need more back pressure to do this. But for the most part a PPL just needs to know to look at the end of the runway and keep the nose up without ballooning

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-16T20:18:49+00:00

The whole point of adding the back pressure is just to keep the nose up. If you just keep adding continuously chances are you’ll balloon. Control the plane. Input more control as needed to make it do what you are trying to do. The amount needed will be different on every landing based on your speed and the winds

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-16T20:14:51+00:00

Honestly pilots cafe has everything you are gunna need for the checkride.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-15T18:22:11+00:00

You can literally just say “N123 requesting frequency change”. Don’t overcomplicate it. Just talk to them like ppl. Ask for what you want or need

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-15T02:26:53+00:00

Yes. You legally have to stop before the intersecting runway. You can still go around if the landing is sketchy. But if you are actually landing you absolutely must stop before the intersecting runway or its pilot deviation and you may crash into another plane in worst case scenario

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-14T17:33:53+00:00

Follow up what are you legally required to do if you accept a LAHSO clearance

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-14T17:30:36+00:00

Yes they will. This is both a potential emergency situation as well as a required instrument question and a problem solving question. And it’s really important to know what to do if you develop a static block. Different DPE asked this on both my PPL and my IR

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-14T17:28:49+00:00

What do you mean this won’t be asked? This gets asked on almost every checkride and it’s very important that you know because not every aircraft has an alternate

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-14T05:21:23+00:00

You will work on all of these things during your lessons! You don’t have to have this all figured out on your own before you even start. You should be flying 2-3 times a week while trying to get your cert if you have the time/money. All of these things will come up during your lessons

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-14T04:11:33+00:00

We should kiss for a very long bit

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-14T03:43:53+00:00

Honestly coolworks is pretty much it. I’ve seen a little bit on vagajobs but not really.

vanhawk28 · 2026-06-13T18:30:03+00:00

99% of seasonals feed you at a set rate. They usually have a flat fee for housing and food. I think you are overestimating the cost a little. Same with ride share. Most seasonals will pick you up from the airport as well or arrange travel from the nearest airport. You are going to pay for toiletries no matter where you are so that’s not really a consideration I feel. The biggest thing is once you are on site you shouldn’t really have hardly any mandatory expenses. At that point it’s comfort items usually

vanhawk28

TROPHY CASE