Reading a surface analysis chart is crucial for pilots as it provides vital information about current and forecasted weather conditions, which is essential for flight planning and decision-making. Here's a detailed explanation on how pilots can read a surface analysis chart: The Basics A surface analysis chart depicts weather conditions at the Earth's surface, including information on temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind direction, wind speed, and the presence of fronts and high and low weather systems. Interpreting Isobars and Pressure Systems Isobars are lines that connect points ..read more

Understanding weather information is crucial for students and pilots to ensure safe and efficient flights. Two key components of aviation weather reports are Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) and Winds Aloft. In this blog post, we'll delve into the intricacies of interpreting TAFs and Winds Aloft. Decoding TAFs (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast): KPSM 211131Z 2112/2212 33010KT P6SM FEW250 FM211300 34012G21KT P6SM FEW250 FM212200 32009KT P6SM FEW250 Time Frame: TAFs are typically issued four times a day and cover a 24 or 30-hour period. "211131Z" means the TAF came out on the 21st day of the m ..read more

For this month’s Airport of the Month, let’s take a look at a few different airports that I visited on my Commercial Long Cross Country a few weeks ago. To start, let’s take a look at 14 CFR 61.129 (4)(i) and the specific requirements for this flight. The regulation states: “,i), One cross-country flight of not less than 300 nautical miles total distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original departure point. However, if this requirement is being met in Hawaii, the longest segment need only have a ..read more

Written by Dispatcher Zach S In honor of the beautiful weather and start of summer, for May’s Airport of the Month, let’s take a look at a great summer day trip opportunity: Bar Harbor! BHB is a great place to go for a quick summer outing. Located just outside of Acadia National Park, it’s just a quick drive in an FBO crew car or rental vehicle. BHB is located 135 nm northeast of PSM, but to avoid flying over large amounts of water, it is recommended that you follow the coast up towards Belfast, Maine before heading east towards the airport. Flying up the coast is truly one of the best things ..read more

Hello CHI students! My name is Liam and I have been a dispatcher at CHI since November of 2021. I recently earned my commercial pilots license here at CHI and wanted to share some things that I learned along the way and also some low hour pilot job ideas with the students of CHI to get excited and inspired to keep pushing through training and investing in yourself as a pilot! To preface this, I have been flying since 2019 and have been dreaming of getting a job as a commercial pilot since I was very young. Finally earning my wings as a commercial pilot was soon tempered by the coming daunting ..read more

Written by CHI Aerospace Dispatcher Zach S. Over the last few weeks as Hunter S. and I have continued to work on building our hours we’ve remained within about 70NM of Pease. Recently, on a beautifully clear day, we decided to head a little further and test our luck in catching some F15’s from the 104th Fighter Wing located at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport. For our route of flight, we decided that we would fly direct to Barnes at a cruising altitude of 6500’ on the way there and at 5500’ on our way back. After a thorough pre-flight of the aircraft, N626NA, we hopped on in, fired up, and t ..read more

For this Airport of the Month, Dispatchers Zach and Hunter decided to go for a longer flight and went up to Knox County Regional Airport (KRKD). For the route, we knew that if we were to fly directly to Rockland (and back), we would be too far out over the ocean, so we planned our flight via KPWM and KBXM. Our route would be roughly 110NM and northeast bound - so we planned to cruise at 5500ft. With our routing, we flew directly over the Portland airport and got to admire the “big leagues” in action. Next, we were onto Brunswick! Once we landed, we parked next to a Cape Air C402 and swapped ..read more

We can’t believe it’s already been two years since we last posted one of these… Time may be flying by, but the airports are still there! Dispatchers Zach and Hunter both have been building their XC PIC time to work towards their instrument rating, so they took advantage of a beautiful day and flew to KRUT (Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional). After a pre-flight inspection of the aircraft, we planned our route with both weather and terrain avoidance on our minds. The METAR was showing “clear & a million” but we did notice that there was a temperature inversion in the atmosphere and that vis ..read more

Written by CHI Dispatcher Lisa Let’s talk about FRATs…. If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times “please file your FRAT!” The question is WHY do we ask you to file those? Why take time out of your already busy pre-flight activities to complete this task? The short answer of course is SAFETY! Safety for yourselves, others, the equipment, and our school. The Federal Aviation Administration Safety Team (FAAST) is quoted as saying “when implementing a Safety Management System (SMS), one of the most critical components to develop is a Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT). Because ever ..read more

Written by Joe Palmer What better way to celebrate learn to fly than exploring New England. Below are descriptions of local airports we encourage both renters and time building students to fly to. Jaffrey (AFN) This short cross country is located between Keene and Manchester and has a brand new runway! Jaffrey is known for its unique history and the farm nearby with an ice cream stand. This is the perfect place to fly to with friends and family and snag a sundae. Brunswick (BXM) As a popular destination for our private pilot students, Brunswick is a former naval air station with a long 8000 ..read more