PROFESSION: PILOT. INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN MARINO PALLA
What does being a pilot mean? And how do you become a pilot?
We asked these questions to Captain Marino Palla. With 16,000+ flight hours, he’s been a pilot for Air Dolomiti since 1997, a flight instructor since 2000 and Director of the Verona...
HOW DO HELICOPTERS FLY?
To understand how helicopters fly, you have to forget everything you know about airplanes for a moment.
The first and rather obvious difference is visible to the naked eye: helicopters fly thanks to a rotary wing, whereas airplanes fly with fixed wings.
Some history
Let’s go back...
THE AUTOBRAKE
You wouldn’t be reading an article from our #AvGeek column if you thought that applying the brakes was enough to make an aeroplane land or stop.
Whilst you do also need to ‘apply the brakes’ in some sense, engaging thrust reversal and the air brakes,...
AEROPLANE TAILS
Last but not least on an aeroplane comes the tail, also known as the empennage. A fundamental part of an aeroplane, the tail is structured in both horizontal and vertical planes, the ratio of which changes according to the aeroplane configuration. For example, there...
THE FLIGHT DIRECTOR
We’ve already talked about the autopilot in another article or, more generally, about flight instruments, but today we’ll talk about something even more technical for real cockpit fans.
After all, we know that the #AvGeek column of our blog really gets our readers going and,...
AIR CONDITIONING UP IN THE AIR
Imagine putting your nose out the window of a moving aeroplane, even just for a moment. Imagine that the aeroplane is cruising, you need a spot of fresh air and you’re able to easily pop open the three layers of Plexiglas that make up...
AIRCRAFT LIGHT
How many times during a nice evening outdoors have you squinted up at a little light in the sky and asked yourself ‘is that a star or an aeroplane?’. It takes a few seconds to work it out. As you focus on that distant...
AEROPLANE MAINTENANCE
Before you go on a road trip by car, it’s a good idea to do a few safety checks. Engine oil level, tyre pressure, brake condition and the correct functioning of the lights are top of the check list for all responsible drivers.
In aviation,...
HOW DO AIRCRAFT HOLD DOORS WORK?
Why don’t we all admit it? Even though it may seem a bit daft, we’ve all wondered at least one in our lives what would happen if the aircraft hold door opened while the plane was flying. Well, the good news is, it’s impossible!...
WHAT MATERIAL IS AN AIRCRAFT MADE OF?
In this section, one of the most loved by our readers, we have often wondered “what is it made of?”. However, still talking about airplanes, it is time to change question…
WHAT MATERIAL is an aircraft made of?
Let’s start from the most obvious parts. The...