Digital Media Center

Welcome to Premier Flight Center's Digital Media Center. You will find an extensive collection of Flight Training Articles written by our own instructors, but that's not all! We have videos, items submitted from our pilot friends, and a collection of tidbits heard on the radio that are sure to make you smile.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch with the authors on our staff. Who knows, you may be the one to provide the inspiration for the next submission you find here!

Click on the topics below to see the available titles:

• Flight Training Articles – Insightful analysis and review of a variety of topics that pilots of all levels will find interesting and useful.
  Or, click on one of these sub topics for a more directed search:
• Communications
• Weather
• Flight Operations
• Rules & Regs – Read insight & analysis about those confusing FARs. Or send us a question and you could see your answer here.
• Various Videos - Check out these videos. You'll watch them more than once, and we bet you'll want friends to see them too!
• Reader Submissions – Check out the things that your fellow pilots have taken the time to share with us.
• Comedy in Flight – Primarily snippets of conversations over the airwaves that would have made you smile if you’d been there to hear it live. They’re here for you to review or share.
• Just for Fun – Oddities from the world of aviation here just to prove that pilots have their own brand of humor - Enjoy!
• From Official Reports – Articles written from FAA investigations, NTSB findings and accident analysis, and NASA data.
• Pieces of History - The small and relatively young world of aviation is replete with a rich history. You won’t have to be a pilot to appreciate this collection. Thank you in advance for taking the time to consider these items.

Aviation Training Articles

Communications

Have You Ever Wondered: Which Airline Has Which Callsign?

If you’ve heard an assortment of call signs from airliners but you’ve been baffled by which airline it is, here is the key to decoding it all!

And if you'd like to enjoy a wonderful reader response to this article by retired American Airlines Captain Tony Vallillo:
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Understanding ATC Lightgun Signals

If you have ever wondered what the table of ATC light gun signals really means, read this informative article.
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Speaking of Effective Communications

Review the best practices for communicating with ATC (Air Traffic Control) and find out how to simply and enhance your communication skills.
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On Guard!

Do you know the most useful frequency available to pilots? Have you ever been out flying and wished for radio quiet while you’re just out doing maneuvers? Check out this article for some good advice.
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Weather

Formation of Standing Lenticular Clouds

See some stunning pictures of one of nature’s most amazing cloud forms and review some basic weather theory to learn how they form.
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Surface Chart from a Windy Spring Day

When it gets windy, the isobars are plotted close together on surface charts. When the whole country is windy, this is what it looks like!
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Flight Operations

Winter Starting Procedures: The Cold Facts!

A very important item that is virtually impossible to check during a preflight is the battery’s condition. The main purpose of the battery is to provide the power needed to start the engine.
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Sometimes the Best Chance for Success Comes from Quitting

For some reason, a persons’ ability to evaluate their level of performance diminishes as they make subsequent attempts to accomplish a complex task at which they continue to fail. This can be deadly.
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When the “Successful Outcome”
Of the Flight Is “Seriously In Doubt”

Pilots are tested to the standard that no task on the check ride leaves the examiner wondering if the safe and proper performance of it is “seriously in doubt”! Yet licensed pilots seem to fly long after the safe outcome of their flight becomes “seriously in doubt”! Here is an examination of that odd phenomenon.
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Is Flying Really Safe?

Have you ever been asked that question? This will help you when confronted with changing the way non-pilots, and pilots, think about what we do.
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When Should You Begin Planning Your Flight?

Here is some practical advice, from an experienced flight instructor, about the thought process that should go into planning a flight.
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Cold Weather Starting Procedures &
Safe Airplane Engine Priming Techniques

Winter operations have some unique procedures to be aware of if you want to avoid an engine fire on start. Learn to prime properly and avoid problems.
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Avoiding a Midair Collision

We all know that “See and be seen” is the rule. Here are some practical tips for doing so and a few photos of an interesting accident that resulted from a lack of seeing and being seen!
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Are There Uninvited Passengers in Your Plane?

Spring brings the potential for some unique inhabitants of your plane. Learn the signs that you’ve got some wild passengers aboard!
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Images from Video in the Cockpit

When I began flying, I never would have imagined that the wonders of technological advances would bring us affordable, small, high definition cameras. Naturally pilots saw the potential to unobtrusively mount them in the cockpit in order to film their flights...
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