The jet engine revolutionized air travel in the 1950s, and since then jet engines have only gotten more reliable, more efficient, and more powerful. This is due in part to the switch from turbojets to turbofans. In this episode, I discuss what turbojets and turbofans are, and the important differences between them.

#44: Turbojets and turbofans

What was in auto engines 50 years ago, is in piston aircraft engines today. It’s not always true but it certainly feels true often. Only in the last 30 years or so has carburetion been supplanted by fuel injection in aircraft engines. In this episode I will introduce you to the purpose of carburetors, what they do and how they work, and talk about a few different types of carburetors.

#43: Carburetors

Flights of military aircraft always fly in formation. Flying in formation offers significant tactical advantages when in a combat area, and helps maintain cohesion of the flight when not. Learn about how military aircraft fly in formation, the different types of formations used, and how they deal with contingencies.

#42: Formation flying and TACFORM

Low-frequency radio ranges are a simple form of instrument navigation that hasn’t been around since the 1970s. And while it’s comparatively primitive today, it was revolutionary in the 1920s, demonstrating that for the first time airplanes could be navigated by instruments alone. Learn about how LRR stations worked, and how LRR approaches were charted and flown.

#41: Low-frequency radio ranges

Ice is nice in cold drinks but can be a real hazard to airplanes. When supercooled water droplets freeze and create ice on the wings, an aircraft can suffer loss of lift and control. Learn about where and why ice forms, and why it’s such a big deal to the pilots who fly through it (and try to avoid it).

#40: Types and hazards of icing

Bombing has come a long way from its primitive origins. Today, computers help pilots put bombs exactly where they want them. In this episode I cover some of the different ways that pilots “pickle,” or drop their bombs, and how the HUD and the fire control radar help them, even when dropping dumb bombs.

#39: CCIP, CCRP, and other bombing modes

Aircraft that fly high and fast deal with a whole range of aerodynamic issues that lower and slower planes never see. They stem from the shape of the aircraft, the properties of the air at high altitude, and shockwaves caused by approaching the speed of sound. In this episode, I discuss high-altitude, high-speed aerodynamics, including Mach tuck, coffin corner, and Dutch roll.

#38: High-altitude, high-speed aerodynamics

In aviation, airspeed is life. But it’s also not simple — there are lots of different kinds of airspeed, from indicated airspeed to calibrated airspeed to true airspeed and more. In this episode, I cover the different types of airspeeds, what they all mean, and why they’re important.

#37: Airspeed, airspeed, airspeed

Bombs are getting smarter every day. In the 1960s, we got the laser-guided bomb, marking the end of the era of indiscriminate bombing of targets. Today we have GPS-guided bombs too, as well as hybrid guidance systems. In this episode, I’ll cover some details of laser- and GPS-guided weapons; how they work, tactics, and shortcomings.

#36: Laser-guided and GPS-guided bombs

This is part 6 of a 6-part series on transoceanic flights. Transoceanic flights date back to Charles Lindbergh’s famous Spirit of St. Louis flight in 1927, but today the world is quite different, with numerous procedures and rules to keep us safe as we fly across the ocean. In part 6, I cover gross navigational errors (GNEs), some of the procedures used in the cockpit to mitigate risk, and strategic lateral offsets, or SLOP.

#35: Transoceanic crossings, part 6

AvFacts is a podcast by Tim Morgan that introduces you to a new aviation topicwith each episode. I’ll walk you through interesting topics covering aircraftbig and small, civilian and military, airplanes and helicopters, andeverything in between. As long as it’s interesting and has to do withaviation, I’ll talk about it on AvFacts.

AvFacts is a podcast by Tim Morgan that introduces you to a new aviation topic with each episode. I’ll walk you through interesting topics covering aircraft big and small, civilian and military, airplanes and helicopters, and everything in between. As long as it’s interesting and has to do with aviation, I’ll talk about it on AvFacts.

AvFacts - Aviation knowledge without limits

Angle of attack is the single most important number in aeronautics. It literally means the difference between flying and falling. Let it get too high, and your airplane can enter a stall, where the wings are no longer able to effectively generate lift. In today’s episode, I talk about what angle of attack is, why it matters, what a stall is, and how we get into and out of them.

#16: Angle of Attack and the Stall

In this episode, I cover the details of how we start up aircraft, and in particular jet engine-powered aircraft.

#12: How to Start a Jet Aircraft

The most important number in cross-country gliding is “speed to fly.” Speed to fly is a complex topic, that involves thermals, headwinds and tailwinds, glider performance, and much more. On this episode I cover the basics of cross-country flying and racing in gliders, and introduce you to Paul MacReady’s theory of efficient glider flight.

#29: Cross-country gliding and MacCready theory

This is part 1 of a 6-part series on transoceanic flights. Transoceanic flights date back to Charles Lindbergh’s famous Spirit of St. Louis flight in 1927, but today the world is quite different, with numerous procedures and rules to keep us safe as we fly across the ocean. In part 1, I cover oceanic flight plans, including how they're received; and voice position reporting.

#30: Transoceanic crossings, part 1

The US airspace system is undergoing massive changes in the wake of RNAV and GPS. Learn about the high-altitude redesign (HAR), non-restrictive routing (NRR), RNAV routes, and other projects underway to redesign the highways in the sky.

#27: The national airspace redesign

The private pilot certificate is the first license that many pilots get. It’s a handy certificate that allows the pilot to fly their friends and family around, but they can’t take money. There are only a few very limited exceptions in which a pilot can take money or other consideration for a flight. In this episode, I’ll talk about these exceptions, and why a pilot can’t just go on Craigslist looking for a passenger.

#19: Private Pilots and Ride-Sharing

One of the symptoms of hypoxia is decreased judgment and decision-making ability — not good for pilots. It can sneak up on you slowly, and by the time you realize it’s happening, you're too impaired to do anything about it. So pilots have a lot of different ways to ensure their brain is getting the oxygen it needs, even at high altitudes. Today I talk about hypoxia, the different types of hypoxia and its signs and symptoms, and the different ways pilots have of receiving supplemental oxygen.

#26: Hypoxia and oxygen delivery systems

Surprisingly, pilots actually care about a lot of different altitudes in aviation. There’s the obvious ones: altitude above ground level (AGL) and above mean sea level (MSL), but there’s also some not-so-obvious ones you might not have heard of, such as pressure altitude and density altitude. In this episode we will learn about how these different altitudes are measured and what their significance to pilots and air traffic controllers are.

#8: Altitudes in Aviation

Lead pursuit, pure pursuit, and lag pursuit make up part of the bread and butter of basic fighter maneuvers, or dogfighting. In this episode, learn what these are and how they can lead to overshoots and reversals, which can turn the tables of a dogfight.

#7: Pursuits, Overshoots, and Reversals

Circle

Turn circles are a fundamental concept in basic fighter maneuvers, or BFM -- the skill of dogfighting. In this episode I will cover the mechanics of turn circles, including rate and radius. I’ll also cover entry windows, and the basics of the one-circle and two-circle fight.

#22: Turn Circles and One/Two-Circle Fights

Close air support is one of the most challenging air-to-ground missions a pilot can perform. Unlike an in-and-out strike mission, CAS missions require the pilot to be over a hostile area for a long period of time, ready to provide air support when needed. The risk of confusion, miscommunication, and friendly fire is also very high. To prevent this, CAS missions are highly procedural, using a standard 9-line briefing. In today’s episode, we will learn about the procedures, risks, and benefits of CAS missions, and how CAS aircraft are coordinated and controlled.Voice acting: Ignacio Soto, William Dillon, Rachel Schifano, Adam Starkey

Close air support is one of the most challenging air-to-ground missions a pilot can perform. Unlike an in-and-out strike mission, CAS missions require the pilot to be over a hostile area for a long period of time, ready to provide air support when needed. The risk of confusion, miscommunication, and friendly fire is also very high. To prevent this, CAS missions are highly procedural, using a standard 9-line briefing. In today’s episode, we will learn about the procedures, risks, and benefits of CAS missions, and how CAS aircraft are coordinated and controlled. Voice acting: Ignacio Soto, William Dillon, Rachel Schifano, Adam Starkey

#4: Close Air Support and the 9-Line

Decalage is not often taught to student pilots, but it’s a critical component of what makes an aircraft fly. Decalage provides an aircraft with angle of attack stability — in other words, it makes an aircraft that is flying, want to stay flying. In this episode, I’ll talk about what decalage is and why it’s what makes an airplane an airplane.

#11: Decalage

This is the first of a series covering how pilots defend against incoming missiles. In this episode, I will discuss how pilots use geometry and the limitations of radar to defend against radar-guided missiles. In the next part, we’ll look at countermeasures (chaff and flares).

#25: Missile defense, part I: Geometry and radar

Primitive forms of aerial refueling have been around since the 1920s; since then, it has matured into a complex but effective procedure for getting gas from one aircraft to another. In this episode, I look at the different kinds of aerial refueling, when it’s used, and some things pilots have to be aware of to do it successfully.

#28: Aerial refueling

Scotch whisky is an alcoholic drink made from malted barley, aged for at least three years, and produced in Scotland. Scotch whisky is categorized by its origin, one of five regions in Scotland, each of which has its own distinct flavor, primarily due to the water and soil in which the barley is grown. In this episode, I’ll walk you through what exactly Scotch whisky is, the different varieties and their flavor profiles, and how best to enjoy it.

#15: Scotch Whisky

There are many technologies pilots and ATC use to locate aircraft and avoid mid-air collisions. The most important is the pilot’s own eyeballs. But beyond that, many other technologies work together to keep aircraft separated. Today I’m going to be discussing primary and secondary radar, traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS), and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B).

#23: Air Traffic Control Technology: Past, Present, and Future

This is part 2 of a 6-part series on transoceanic flights. Transoceanic flights date back to Charles Lindbergh’s famous Spirit of St. Louis flight in 1927, but today the world is quite different, with numerous procedures and rules to keep us safe as we fly across the ocean. In part 2, I cover high-frequency radio, and how it’s used to send messages over the horizon, and selective calling, or SELCAL.

#31: Transoceanic crossings, part 2

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