Pack Flight Services
Resources
A collection of useful articles, letters of interpretation, and other important stuff
How to crash an airplane
There is a right way and a wrong way to crash an airplane. The right way means everyone goes home. The skills you need to be successful can be taught, but they require some forethought and critical thinking. Here are some useful tools to consider.
An article discussing where to land when the options aren't good.
If you're going to have to land in the water, it may not be quite as bad as you think.
How to land an airplane in the water and live to tell the tale.
It's Not Just the Rudder, Dummy
Tailwheel airplanes are notorious for their instability. The dreaded ground loop is one of the main focuses of tailwheel flying, but there's more to it than meets the eye. It's not just the rudder!
Foreign Pilots
How to evaluate ICAO Aviation English
To be eligible for an FAA pilot certificate, you need to have at least ICAO Level 4 English Proficiency. What does that sound like? This link will provide you with audio examples of what various speakers sound like at different levels of proficiency.
Converting EASA licenses to Standard FAA certificates (TIP-L process)
EASA licenses are now eligible for conversion to standard, unrestricted FAA certificates at the Private Pilot level. This process is more involved than the US Based On Foreign process from 61.75 that's available to all the other ICAO countries. EASA pilots can choose either process. This link takes you to AC 61-143 which explains the details.
Converting Canadian Licenses to Standard FAA Certificates (IPL process)
Transport Canada licenses are eligible for conversion to standard FAA licenses based on the IPL agreement between the FAA and Transport Canada. This process is unique to Canada and involves a little more work than the 61.75 process. AC 61-135A explains the details.
A matter of interpretation
If you're confused about a regulation, or you think you found a loophole...you're probably not the first person to think of it. The FAA publishes letters written by their office of legal counsel that answer those off-the-wall questions. Here is a list of some PFS favorites that we reference regularly.
How do you sign off airworthiness directives correctly?
Everyone gets confused on this topic. Take a look here at the Easter-Precision letter from 2016. A PFS favorite, this one gets referenced frequently.
How should I log my cross country flights?
It's totally up to you. The Van Zanen letter from 2009 explains.
Can I mix-and-match the solo and supervised PIC time for the commercial under 61.129?
Absolutely not. This question comes up all the time, and the answer is a categorical no. The Grannis letter from 2016 outright says no, and the Kuhn letter from 2014 goes into more detail.
What direction should I turn when making a circle-to-land from an instrument approach?
If the airport is towered, do what the tower says. If there is no tower, then all turns should be made to the left as explained in the Krug letter from 2014. It's counter intuitive, and you'd think that the shortest distance would be the right one, but the pattern rules of 91.126 still apply to IFR traffic. The Murphy letter from 2009 further agrees with Krug.
Maneuvering Speed
The way we talk about maneuvering speed drastically oversimplifies a complicated topic, to the point that many pilots have the wrong idea of what it actually is. American 587 is the landmark accident on the topic, and this article from Flight Safety provides an overview of the history.
Special Airworthiness Bulletin
The special airworthiness information bulletin includes a more detailed discussion of the factors affecting VA. This information was disseminated by the FAA following the crash of AAL587. This bulletin also provides a formula to calculate a corrected VA speed as weight changes.
This youtube video was produced by the NTSB and shows the flight path, cockpit audio and control inputs that led to the crash of American 587. It's three minutes long and well worth the watch.