Daily logbook
Daily logbook
Short daily posts from Dmitry Shteyn — one topic per day, roughly 300–500 words, always with a pointer into the full guide.
8 postsRSS
- Fri, 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
- Thu, 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.
- Wed, 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.
- Tue, 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.
- Mon, 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.
- Sun, 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.
- Sat, 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.
- Fri, 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.