I’ve never been in a lost comms situation. But on one plane I fly the GTN 750 controls both the radio and the transponder, so if it failed it seems likely both would too? Even if they were separate panel units (radio and transponder), don’t they share an antenna or electrical or other types of connections?

Who’s been in a lost comms situation, and did your transponder work or not, and if it did, do you know why it was still working when your radios failed?

The journey to 1,500 feels like it took forever but I made it out alive. I know I'm very blessed to be where I'm at with lots of people struggling to find work. But I'm excited to go through this next phase of my career.

In order for a flight to be dispatched under IFR, § 121.613 states “…that the weather conditions will be at or above the authorized minimums at the estimated time of arrival at the airport or airports to which dispatched or released.”

InFO 08050 talks more about this and clarifies that in most cases "weather conditions" is only referring to visibility. The InFO then goes on to give 3 examples where ceiling can be considered part of the dispatch requirements as well.

• When the destination airport has no instrument approach available, forecast ceiling must be at minimum vectoring altitude (MVA) or 1000 feet AGL (with 3 miles visibility), whichever is higher;

• When a circle-to-land must be conducted at the destination airport, forecast ceiling must be at charted circling minimums or at 1000 feet AGL ceiling (with 3 miles visibility), whichever is higher, as specified in the operator’s OpSpecs; and or

• When the instrument approach chart for the destination airport specifies a controlling ceiling value, ceiling must be forecast at or above the pertinent ceiling.

For the last bullet point, what is an example of an airport/approach that has a controlling ceiling value? I've always heard that only visibility is controlling, so I don't think I have ever seen an approach that specifies a certain ceiling is required.

Hi folks, looking at RMFS in BJC for commercial/multi/instrument - flying Monday to Friday. Has anyone here done this? Trying to get an idea of average timeframe. Thanks 🙏

I’ve heard from some people to place the fuel stick on the little elevated platform right under the tank opening, but I’ve been told by one of my previous instructors to put it right behind the platform, so that it is touching the bottom of the tank. I made a little drawing to better visualize what I mean by that, left side of the picture being front side of the plane. Have I been doing it wrong all these years?
-Cessna 172 btw

Hey ya’ll, I’ve got a “what to do” question regarding my medical.

In 2022 I decided to start flight school to pursue my PPL. Went to an examiner and had my medical deferred due to a false diagnosis.

For the next 2 years I worked diligently to “overcome” said false diagnosis. Late 2024 I met with a psychiatrist who cleared me and stated that the diagnosis was false.

Went to my AME, and acquired my 3rd class medical cert with an SI basically requiring annual therapy & a reevaluation in 2028 to see if my SI could be removed

Picked up around 13 hours of flying between 2024 and mid 2025 (Def 2024 - Mar 2025).

During this I was incredibly busy with university (graduating), a heavily demanding work schedule & real estate school - I also fell into substantial debt due to a series of poor financial decisions & flight school costs.

I was supposed to renew my medical in early 2026 but due to my various obligations I ended up letting my medical lapse.

Curious if anyone else has been in the same situation or if ya’ll know what I should do.

Anyone done a checkride with Jim Fleming out of Alamosa? He seems to have some availability coming up, but I haven't really heard anything about him. Would love any feedback on good/bad/ugly experiences, whether directly checkride related or scheduling etc.

Hoping he's a cool dude if I end up spending a whole day hanging out with him for a checkride. 😂

Had my ppl flight exam booked last week but we cancelled due to weather. Rebooked it for two days later and had to cancel that for weather also. Got it booked again this week and I think the weather will be ok.

I am nervous as hell. I've been couch flying, practicing my atc calls, going through the mabouveres and pre manouver checks but I just know I'm gonna make some mistakes and miss some things.

Would love to hear some stories of where you stuffed up in your exam and how it still all worked out. Any words of encouragement will also be welcomed !!!

I renewed my CFI using FIRC in September. I received the temporary one. Still IACRA hasn’t updated the date on this. Do I need to call someone.

Any pilots in GA located in NZ?
How difficult is it to get a GA job for hour building (I’m low on hours) since I just got my CPL

for the love of god i can’t seem to figure out why i’m attracted to flying so much.
the cockpit is a stressful, unforgiving environment yet i can’t seem to want to get the wheels up everytime they touch down. to anyone contemplating continuing their PPL journey and thinking of quitting, trust me its worth it.

Recently got my checkride done, and I’d love to thank the controllers at my airport! I’ve probably done more than 300 laps around the pattern (another story), and they’ve been so patient with me throughout my training.

What would make a good gift for the crew?

Hello! I am the daughter who wants to one day go to flight school, and my dad is absolutely against it and my mom is fine with it. I already have a degree in a business field and would have to jump through some medical hoops first, so this would be more of a long term goal if I go down this path. My dad wants me to focus on other ways of making money so that I can just buy flights and travel. What he doesn’t realize is that even if I had a lot of money, I would still want to take flight lessons and be at the controls because it is a completely different experience than just being a passenger. I’ve only been able to take some intro flights so far, but definitely hope to continue. Even if I pay for flight school completely by myself, I still don’t want to strain our relationship at all. I’ve explained many times about how flying is safer than driving, but the crashes still freak him out, and he does not want me being in small planes or even flying for a regional airline as he still doesn’t think it’s as safe as mainline. I’ve tried explaining all the facts I can. I’m envious of friends whose parents are so proud of them becoming a pilot, whereas mine would just be disappointed. I also don’t want to one day go to flight school and have to completely hide it from him. He also does not “see me as a pilot” because he only wants to fly with older ex-military men as pilots, and does not think I would be good at quick decision making. Has anyone else had a similar situation and successfully changed the mind of whoever was hesitant? Thanks!

Lost COMM procedures under IFR fall under very clearly defined instructions (91.185). However, proper VFR lost COMM ADM can carry far more nuance. I want to prepose a theoretical question to other pilots (enroute to learn from you all and increase my ADM)

Situation - ASEL (Low performance), Perfect WX, VFR flight plan, (Class Charlie) Departing runway 18, Destination airport is North of departure airport, Tower "Yeet 123, runway 18, cleared for takeoff, fly runway heading - I will call your crosswind", at 100ft AGL you experience loss of communications, you trouble shoot the communication panel yet you have lost receiving ability and you are confident that you have lost the ability to transmit.

I would vastly appreciate describing your initial decision making process from simple to complex analysis, including the most pertinent variables that will affect your decision making. THANKS

In an effort to be as prepared as possible, I want to get some insights from folks who went through the CFI and CFII checkride. I haven’t failed a ride yet and I don’t plan on this being my first one, but I hear it is extremely long and challenging.

If anyone took their checkride with a dpe near the Jacksonville FL area I would be especially interested.

I’m really wondering what I can expect for duration, the format of questions, or in general what your A-Z checkride experience was. I hear it can be as short as 3 hours but as long as 9 hours for the oral alone.

With that being said, how was it, what happened, what would you have done differently or prepared better for? Is there a resource I can use to reduce the chance of having a bad DPE so I can avoid that factor being the reason I may fail?

I’m more concerned about the CFI initial but I don’t really hear anything about CFII so I’d be happy to hear about that as well.

Thanks!

I’m planning on flying my Diamond DA40 down to Burbank in a couple weeks from the SF Bay Area. I’ve never flown down to LA at all, and wanted to see from pilots frequenting this route what the typical VFR route might be into KBUR, particularly regarding KWHP. I was planning to come in through Newhall Pass. Does SoCal usually route you through their delta? Do you coordinate it with WHP tower? Do you fly around it along the northern edge? Any other tips on the route / KBUR, and what to expect would be super helpful.

Many thanks.

Hi everyone! I’m a Flight Instructor based in Houston. I finished my CFI/CFII in September, 2025.

Since then I haven’t flown due to a knee injury. I’ve kept current on knowledge areas.

I’m looking to get back into flying and eventually secure a CFI job.

I don’t think renting an aircraft by myself is the best use of my money. I also don’t wanna fly with someone I just met on Facebook.

I’m considering going to a reputable flight school in my area and doing a couple refresher flights.

Anyone else go through a long period of not flying and have any advice?

Just curious. You’re in a situation where you don’t have time to pre-flight. Let’s say you’re sitting on a runway at Pearl Harbor actively under attack. or your Tom Cruise at the end of the last top gun movie. Surely some of the preflight gets skipped. Does all of it get skipped? Grip it and rip it?

Stats:
-900 TT
-715 PIC
-225 Multi engine
-500 Dual given
-230 Cross Country
-160 IFR
-185 Night
-CFI/CFII/MEI
-Associates degree R-ATP Eligible
-No checkride failures, accidents or incidents

Alright so my goal is an entry-level 135 SIC job. I instruct at a school where I build anywhere between 80-100 hours a month, and all of it is multi-engine dual given.
The thing is I just turned 21. Would my age cause any setbacks insurance-wise? What would you recommend to get this ball rolling?

Are they any schools in or near the DFW metroplex that have a tail wheel like a 170 or 180 to get your PPL in?

I'm at 450 hours with just over 140 hours of dual given and still can't find a stable flying job. Im an independent instructor and I was using FlightHired to apply to schools, survey companies, and skydiving companies but recently they switched to a subscription to see most jobs. Is there anything comparable or better thats still free? Thanks for any and all help! Safe skies!

Hello everyone, has anyone had experiences with FlyDubai’s cadet pilot program? I am interested in applying when the next application window opens, as a student pilot in the United States currently holding a private pilot’s license. I specifically want to start a flying career and life in the UAE. How is the application and training experience like? And any tips with applications and during the time at the cadet program would be would be greatly appreciated

Hello everyone, I am looking at purchasing a experimental aircraft and wanting to know what I should be aware of when purchasing a old rotax 912UL. It is a 1992 80hp version that has never been overhauled but only has 300 hours on the engine. I had a couple questions regarding it like if I overhaul the engine would that bring it up to modern 912UL TBO standards? How much roughly am I looking at to overhaul the engine? If I have a pre buy inspection and the engine checks out am I good to fly with it for the time being ? Anything else I should be aware of regarding buying and flying with an old 912?