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Technical subjects

The ground knowledge behind the flying: aerodynamics, systems, airspace, performance, and the regulations that bind them.

Written by Jacqualynn Watson, CFII · Aviation advisor, from her own flight instructor curriculum.

Technical subject areas

• Principles of Flight The four forces, angle of attack and the critical angle, drag and the region of reverse command, wake turbulence avoidance, stability, load factor and maneuvering speed, and the four left-turning tendencies.
• Airplane Flight Controls and Systems Primary, secondary and trim controls, adverse yaw and the fixes for it, the constant-speed propeller governor, pitot-static blockages, and a four-step response to any system failure.
• Performance and Limitations Weight and balance terms, what a forward or aft CG costs you, density altitude, and why a charted takeoff distance is a floor rather than a promise. With 14 CFR 91.103 and 91.9.
• Human Factors The four types of hypoxia, the vestibular and visual illusions that kill pilots on night approaches, and what 14 CFR 91.17, 61.53 and the I'M SAFE checklist actually ask of you.
• Visual Scanning and Collision Avoidance Why an airplane on a collision course holds a constant bearing, how the eye's fovea, periphery and blind spot limit what you see, the 10-degree one-second scan and off-center viewing at night, clearing procedures under the Airplane Flying Handbook, and where midair risk concentrates.
• Runway Incursion Avoidance Why the taxi is a phase of flight: what counts as a runway incursion, how to plan, brief and read back a taxi clearance, and how to read airport markings, signs and lights.
• The National Airspace System The six classes of US airspace, A through G — who may enter, what the airplane must carry, and the VFR weather minimums — plus special use airspace, special VFR and TFRs.
• Navigation Systems and Radar Services How a VOR builds a radial from two signals, what RAIM and WAAS actually check, and what ATC radar service will and will not do for a VFR pilot who asks for it.
• 14 CFR and Publications What 14 CFR Parts 1, 61 and 91 cover, how NTSB Part 830 defines an accident, and where the AIM, POH, advisory circulars and the Chart Supplement fit in.
• Endorsements and Logbook Entries Logbook entries and endorsements explained: what 14 CFR 61.51 and 61.189 require, the student solo and cross-country endorsements, practical test recommendations, the AC 61-65K templates, and the clocks that run on all of them.
• Night Operations The three FAA definitions of night, rods and cones and off-center viewing, the 91.205(c) night equipment list, airport and aircraft lighting, and the illusions that put pilots short of the runway.
• Supplemental Oxygen Why hypoxia kills quietly, the 14 CFR 91.211 oxygen thresholds for crew and passengers, time of useful consciousness, the three oxygen system types, and the PRICE check.
• Cabin Pressurization Why cabins are pressurized, how the outflow and safety valves hold cabin altitude, what hypoxia and time of useful consciousness really cost you, and what you do in a decompression.