VFR Mastery Archive - PilotWorkshops

99. Look Out, Dear

Instructors: Wally Moran

A miscommunication leads to a late go-around … and a direct hit on a deer. You climb away safely, but you’re unsure what damage was done to the prop, nose gear, or engine—if any. As the sun sets, you weigh your options: Try to land again, or head elsewhere for bigger runways and better services?

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98. Gauging Your Remaining Fuel

Instructors: Sue Tholen

You’re in cruise above a marine layer when ATC relays that your FBO found a fuel cap on the ramp—and it may be one of yours. The gauges show half on one side, a bit less on the other. Do you continue to VFR? Turn around? Or declare an emergency and descend through the clouds […]

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97. Keeping Your Cool at Hot Springs

Instructors: Colleen Sterling

Two years ago, you bought a 172M with a 180 HP conversion a bit past TBO. After 100 hours you decided to overhaul, and added an engine monitor. That revealed consistently high CHTs, often hitting 430°F in the climb. Today you’re at Hot Springs, SD, with the family. It’s 85°F with density altitude near 6000′. […]

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96. Hat Trick

Instructors: Dave Hirschman

Your mostly grown children go to college or work in three states across the midwest. Visiting one by car is a long drive both ways, but you can plan a loop trip in your Mooney and get all three with ease. It’s your spouse’s birthday soon and you concoct a plan to meet each kid […]

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95. Iconic Adventure

Instructors: David Gagliardi

You’re a sport pilot who took a friend for a day of splash and dashing in your Icon A5. After lunch, you met some folks with an XCub on amphibs, and your friend got some stick time with the pilot of that plane, who is also a CFI. Unfortunately, the XCub got stuck on the […]

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94. Gulf Coast Gauntlet

Instructors: John Zimmerman

You’ve been dodging showery precipitation all the way home and you’ve got one area to bypass. The catch is the only VFR you can use is the peninsula on the west side of Tampa’s Class B, about 15 miles ahead. You stop and wait, but the only good airport is behind you and still IFR […]

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93. Orphan of the Magenta Line

Instructors: Randall Williams

Skirting the DC SFRA and Philadelphia Bravo with your iPad seemed simple, until that iPad displayed a low battery warning. You realize your charger has been dead the entire flight. You stop the music on your phone and check its battery … 2%. So much for redundancy. You’re just southeast of the SFRA, threading between […]

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92. Helo on the Go

Instructors: Kevin Plante

A helicopter lingers over the runway during a stop-and-go and distracts—so much you almost stall. You recover and must go around—but how? Do you keep it simple and predictable? Do you keep the helicopter in sight? Or do you get completely out of the way? You can’t do all of them at once.

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91. Assuming Command

Instructors: Wally Moran

The Tecnam P2010 sitting on the ramp caught your attention, and its owner offered you a deal. Come for a flight as safety pilot for some IFR practice on a beautiful day? You can even both log the time, he says. Off you go in the first new GA airplane you’ve ever experienced … but […]

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90. A Flurry of Doubt

Instructors: David Gagliardi

You know you can’t depart with contaminated wings—but what if you’re almost certain it will just blow off? And you have thousands of feet to abort if it’s not happening as expected? And you just watched almost the same airplane—but a version with less horsepower—depart with no issues whatsoever?

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89. Final Approach Throwdown

Instructors: Dave Hirschman

Everyone has their recipe for a perfect landing, and the mix of ingredients vary from plane to plane. The instructor recommendations are usually the best starting point when you’re checking out on a new model. What will you do when the CFI’s recommendations don’t make sense, but you still need that signoff to fly your […]

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88. Uncivil Twilight

Instructors: Wally Moran

It’s a short flight on a clear morning, departing just before sunrise. It’s one of those mornings where things are running well and the tower controller has time to banter on the radio. The only other traffic is an airplane on approach to a nearby airport—or so everyone thought. Now it’s dead ahead and landing.

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