Flight training can be a blast, but it’s easy to feel stuck when you're not flying every day. Those gaps between flights are critical — they can make the difference between staying on track with your training or falling behind. So, how can you make the most of your time off the runway? Let’s dive into some great ways to maximize your training between flights:
Read all the books! You should have access to the Airplane Flying Handbook, the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, the FARAIM, and the Airmen Certification standards at the very least. Make a cup of coffee, curl up by the fire with your faithful pooch, and read a chapter! Here are some links to the physical handbooks if you don’t already have them:
Airplane Flying Handbook: https://amzn.to/3Zc6bX9
Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: https://amzn.to/3X7MT2m
FARAIM: https://amzn.to/3TkZRsr
Chair fly your next flight. An excellent free method to train on the ground is to chair fly! Find a comfy place to sit, pull up your aircraft’s checklists, and run down the line, visualizing each step of the flight. Start with your preflight inspection, imagine pulling the plane out of the hangar, brief your “engine fire during start” procedure, flow through engine startup, etc. Think about what goes into the ATIS broadcast, remember to pull up your taxi diagram and practice your radio call before taxiing to the runup area. Use the checklist for your pre-takeoff runup, brief your engine failure procedure. Make the radio call as you’re holding short of the runway. Flow through your final checks and practice your callouts as you roll down the runway.
Mentally navigate to the practice area. Reset your timer for your allotted maneuvering fuel. Flow through each maneuver, using the Airplane Flying Handbook, and the ACS as your references. Navigate back home. Make your radio calls to enter the pattern. Flow through your landing checklist. Visualize the final approach course, and fly the plane down the runway until she’s ready to touch down. Taxi off, clean the plane up, and make your radio calls to taxi back to the hangar.
Key elements are to visualize where everything is and move your hands and feet as though you were actually flying the plane!
Don’t forget to mentally wipe the plane down once you’re done!
Here’s a link to a C150 Checklist book to use as reference: https://amzn.to/4dOd19r
Another option: https://amzn.to/4e8DQ85
3. Take a practice test – Turn your weaknesses into strengths! Your ground training should give you access to some form of practice tests. Take a full-length exam, identify what you get wrong and find the corresponding module or chapter in the textbooks, and grind until it becomes your strength.
4. Hit the sim – Whether you have a full AATD, a home simulator, or a simple web-based sim like the one below, you can practice your techniques safely on the ground!
Useful IFR Sim: https://ifrsim.fergonez.net/
Another option: https://www.luizmonteiro.com/learning_vor_sim.aspx
5. Practice Flight planning – Pick up a chart, plotter, and E6B and plan your next adventure! You can watch a video on how to complete your plan here.
b. Order a chart: https://amzn.to/3Tl1XZl
c. E6B: https://amzn.to/4gbcbp4
d. Plotter: https://amzn.to/4dPjl0v
Flight training is an incredible journey, and those non-flying days can be just as productive as the ones in the sky. Stay committed, keep sharpening your skills, and soon enough, you'll be soaring to new heights. Looking forward to sharing the skies with you!
As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Comments