DS-01 · Aviation Manual
Flight, Aerodynamics & Airmanship
by Dmitry Shteyn
DS
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Dmitry Shteyn

Wisconsin-based aviation educator. Also publishes under the spellings Dmitry Shteynbuk and Dmitriy Shteynbuk. Every article and post on this site, in reverse chronological order.

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Guides

Full-length articles

14 articles
  1. WI-01EAA AirVenture OshkoshFor one week every July, Wittman Regional in Oshkosh runs more operations than any other tower on Earth. A pilot's guide to the RIPON arrival, the color-coded landings, and the culture that built it.
  2. WI-02Floatplane Country: Wisconsin's LakesWisconsin has more than 15,000 lakes, one of the highest densities of floatplane operations in the Lower 48, and a working seaplane culture that starts at Vette-Blust and extends up to the Boundary Waters.
  3. WI-03Lake Michigan Weather for PilotsLake Michigan and Lake Superior manufacture their own weather. A pilot flying the Wisconsin shoreline learns to expect it — and to fly around it.
  4. WI-04Wisconsin's Grass Strips and Fly-In CultureWisconsin's aviation culture doesn't live at the towered fields. It lives on the two hundred–plus grass strips, private turf, and pancake-breakfast fly-ins that keep general aviation grounded in the community.
  5. RISK-01IMSAFE and the PAVE ChecklistTwo mnemonics, one habit: an honest preflight of yourself, the aircraft, the environment, and the pressure to go.
  6. SYS-01The Pitot-Static SystemThree instruments, two pressure sources, one common failure mode. How the airspeed indicator, altimeter, and VSI actually work — and how they lie.
  7. RISK-02The Accident ChainAccident investigators keep finding the same pattern: five or six individually manageable errors, linked together. The pilot's job is not to be perfect. It is to break the chain.
  8. WX-02Fronts ExplainedWarm fronts overrun. Cold fronts undercut. The slope of the frontal surface sets the cloud stack, the precipitation footprint, and the flight-planning decision.
  9. HYDRO-01Why Water Flying Is DifferentA floatplane takeoff is three regimes, not one. Understanding displacement, plow, and the step is the difference between arriving on the step and porpoising through the intended departure.
  10. NAV-01VOR Navigation BasicsHow a ground-based VHF omni-range station tells an aircraft its bearing, and how to use the CDI without lying to yourself.
  11. AERO-03How a Wing Actually Generates LiftStreamlines, pressure differential, and Newton's third law working at the same time. The plain-language physics behind the number on the airspeed indicator.
  12. WX-01Reading a METARA field-by-field decode of a routine aviation weather report, plus the standard atmosphere every pilot must carry in their head.
  13. AERO-02Angle of Attack and the StallThe wing does not stall at a speed; it stalls at an angle. Why the critical angle of attack is the single most important number in aerodynamics.
  14. AERO-01The Four Forces of FlightLift, weight, thrust, and drag — how a wing balances them from takeoff to touchdown, with the numbers a pilot actually uses.
Daily logbook

Short posts

8 posts
  1. Jul 3, 2026Airborne Over the Fox ValleyFlying into Oshkosh during the July surge requires more than basic piloting skills as the airspace transforms into the busiest strip of land on earth
  2. Jul 2, 2026Oshkosh: Why the World's Biggest Airshow Happens in WisconsinFor one week every summer, a small Wisconsin field runs more operations than O'Hare. The story is one part geography, one part sixty years of EAA culture.
  3. Jul 1, 2026Get-There-Itis: The Bias That Outflies the WeatherContinuation bias is the quiet engine of general-aviation weather accidents. The counter is a diversion plan you commit to before the weather asks the question.
  4. Jun 30, 2026Reading a METAR in 60 SecondsA METAR looks like an alphabet-soup rebus. It is actually a fixed-order weather report you can read in under a minute once you know the sequence.
  5. Jun 29, 2026The 1935 B-17 Crash That Invented the ChecklistA prototype bomber crashed at Wright Field with a gust lock still engaged. The response wasn't more training. It was the pilot's checklist.
  6. Jun 28, 2026Why Seaplanes Have to Get 'On the Step'Water drag falls off a cliff at planing speed. The whole takeoff technique is about arriving on the step early and staying there.
  7. Jun 27, 2026Density Altitude: The Invisible Runway ThiefHot, high, and humid days move the airplane's true altitude thousands of feet upward — and every performance number moves with it.
  8. Jun 26, 2026Angle of Attack, Not Airspeed: What a Wing Actually Cares AboutThe airspeed indicator is a proxy. The wing stalls when α exceeds its critical value — at any airspeed, any attitude, any weight.