A collapsed nose wheel, scraping a wing while taxiing, or veering off the runway – these sorts of things always seem to attract an audience (with a variety of theories as to what happened), but do we know what to do should the unfortunate or embarrassing happen?

Bob decides to move to a rearward seat for a better view. Will this affect how your aircraft flies, even though the total mass has not changed? The answer is most certainly yes, but let us see what happens, and how to make sure you don’t cause yourself any unexpected problems…

Most airports have a published transition altitude, and this is the point, when in a climb that you would change over from the local QNH setting to the QNE, or standard setting of 1013hPa. But what is the actual effect of this change?

One of the most unexpected things that can happen while flying is an encounter with the feathered kind. Birds were the first aviators of the skies and as such should be respected. However, have you ever considered how a bird strike could affect you in your single engine or general aviation aircraft?

For some reason, even though every pilot has been taught radio phraseology as part of their training, a number of bad habits and ambiguous words have entered the skies, to such an extent that one actually starts to wonder if these are acceptable.

Climb gradient has nothing to do with speed. Let me repeat – nothing to do with speed. If speed is concerned, then we are talking about the rate of climb… But what is flight path angle?

If you have ever been faced with a situation where you have an aircraft coming towards you, or you are zooming along in your Piper Seneca and you find yourself having to over take a nervous student in a C152, here is the proper way to do it…

Alternator failures do not occur often, but when they do, it affects the electrical systems of the aircraft, and your own decision making skills.

Cold fronts are a common phenomena at certain times of the year, and just like thunderstorms, a good understanding of them will go a long way in helping you to plan your flight, and of course, keep you safe.