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Airline Pilot Performance Airline Pilot Performance is proud to offer innovative and interactive online training courses that

07/10/2026

How to keep it safe when flying in fog ✈️

Operating in low visibility can be challenging and presents a variety of threats.

However, thanks to robust operating procedures, we can safely operate in very poor visibility and do so on a regular basis.

Maintaining situation awareness whilst taxiing around complex airports is paramount.

There have been instances in the past when aircraft have lined up on an incorrect runway or mistaken the runway edge lights as the centreline.

To prevent these errors from occurring again, airlines have developed robust operating procedures to help pilots depart safely.

For example, to ensure that the aircraft is lined up on the centreline of the correct runway, we tune the ILS frequency.

This provides electronic centreline guidance to the pilots, who must confirm that the localiser pointer is centred on the displays.

If departing from the threshold of the runway, we can also visually check the runway identifier painted on the runway - eg “22”

In more recent years, aircraft have been fitted with additional systems to help prevent runway misidentification.

An example of this is RAAS - Runway Awareness and Advisory System.

This uses a variety of aircraft systems to identify which runway the aircraft is on, as well as provide additional information, such as runway distance remaining etc.

It’s by using these comprehensive procedures that the safety of the operation can be maintained 💪✈️

Big thanks to .airlinetraining for the use of their fantastic facilities 👌✈️

05/10/2026

If you’re planning to start a Boeing 737 Type Rating within the next 6 months, you’re probably feeling a mix of excitement and pressure.

This is a big step in your career. And most pilots walk into ground school carrying a quiet fear that they are about to be overwhelmed.

That fear does not come from the aircraft. It comes from uncertainty.

When you don’t understand how the systems fit together, everything feels fragile. You worry about falling behind. You worry about the exams. You worry about the simulator.

Now, imagine starting ground school already familiar with how the 737 works.

You recognise the systems. You understand why things happen. The course no longer feels like a flood of information. It feels like something you can manage.

That is what the 737 Head Start is designed to give you.

This is not a faceless e-learning product. It’s taught by me, a current 737 Captain, Type Rating Instructor and Examiner, in a relaxed, easy-to-follow way that focuses on building your understanding rather than cramming facts - no Ai here!!

The result is simple. You walk into ground school calmer, more confident, and ready to perform at your best.

So, if you’re starting a Boeing 737 Type Rating soon, comment “FLY” and give yourself that head start before day one begins.

02/10/2026

Detecting thunderstorms at different levels using weather radar✈️

All airliners are fitted with weather radar and it’s a vital piece of safety equipment that enables pilots to detect and avoid thunderstorms and the associated turbulence.

Weather detection is based on the reflectivity of water droplets.

The weather echo appears on the Navigation Display
(ND) with a colour scale that goes from red (high reflectivity) to green (low reflectivity).

The weather radar echo returns vary in intensity as a function of the droplet size, composition and quantity.

For example, a water particle is five times more reflective than an ice particle of the same size.

The radar panel is fitted in the nose of the aircraft and can be manually tilted up or down by the pilots to scan for weather.

As a general rule, we start the takeoff run with the radar tilted to 5 degrees up. This will scan the airspace that we’re heading into.

As we climb, our climb gradient reduces (not climbing as steeply).

As a result, we need to gradually tilt the radar down to ensure that our radar beam isn’t pointing above the airspace that we’ll be flying into and miss vital weather returns.

A simple method to calculate beam tilt angle is to add 2 zeros to the displayed range per 1 degree of change.

Eg if our display range is 120 miles, add 2 zeros = 12,000 feet. Therefore each 1 degree change up or down in tilt, will result in the beam centre scanning airspace 12000ft up or down from where it was, at a range of 120miles from our position.

If the weather is 40nm from our aircraft, a 1 degree tilt change will move the radar beam centre 4000 feet and so on.

Another simple rule of thumb is to reduce your radar tilt by 1 degree every 6000ft that we climb.

This approximately matches the aircraft climb angle when we factor in the beam width, and will scan the airspace slightly above and below our trajectory.

Eg 6000’ = tilt of plus 4
12000’ = tilt of plus 3
18000’ = tilt of plus 2
24000’ = tilt of plus 1
30000’ = tilt of zero
30000+ = tilt of -1

Newer aircraft do all this for you!

06/09/2026

Runway overruns (excursions), are unfortunately a relatively common occurrence, with approximately 20% of all aviation incidents being attributed to them.

That’s 1 in 5!

Excursions on landing are normally the result of one or more of the following:

Crossing the threshold of the runway carrying excess speed

Stronger than planned tailwinds

Landing too far into the runway

Not applying (or delaying) the correct braking procedures

Not accounting for slippery runway conditions

Pilot training and aircraft manufacturers have been improving procedures and equipment to help prevent these events from occurring.

Adhering to stabilised approach criteria and landing gates are a big step in the right direction.

On board equipment, such as RAAS and RSAT provide pilots with audible alerts, such as “long landing” or “go around” to help pilots make the right decision.

But being “go around minded” is key - this mindset takes the stigma away of going around and needs to be advocated and supported by airlines, both in management and training departments.

Using ground speed to fly an accurate approach ✈️ The vast majority of approaches we fly are based on a 3 degree approac...
29/08/2026

Using ground speed to fly an accurate approach ✈️

The vast majority of approaches we fly are based on a 3 degree approach angle.

And the most common type of approach we fly, is the ILS.

Pilots are trained to fly ILS approaches manually, whilst in cloud - something that can be challenging and requires practice to get right, particularly when flying
‘raw data’.

“Chasing the needles” is a common mistake I see students make when flying raw data ILS approaches.

The key to a successfully flown approach, is knowing what ground track and rate of descent to set.

If we set the correct track and rate of descent, it reduces the likelihood of the pilot “chasing the needles” and significantly enhances the likelihood of a successfully flown approach.

A simple method of setting an accurate rate of descent, is to halve the first 2 numbers of your ground speed, and use that number as hundreds of feet per minute for your rate of descent.

For example, if your ground speed is 160kts, halve 16 = 8.

Therefore you need to set a rate of decent of 800 feet per minute in order to descend down a 3 degree slope.

140kts = 700 feet per minute
130kts = 650 feet per minute and so on.

The pilot will fly the calculated rate of descent and make small corrections as necessary.

Multiplying your ground speed by 5 also works really well.

It’s simple maths that can make flying a stable approach much simpler.

To maintain the localiser, it’s even simpler - place your track line over the extended centreline and localiser needle won’t deviate.

Do you have any rules of thumb that make your job easier?

15/08/2026

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9, registration VN-A867 performing flight VN-34 from Munich to Hanoi, was departing Munich’s runway 26L when huge clouds of dust and dirt where seen when the aircraft rotated very late and became airborne, the tail also struck the ground.

The aircraft climbed to FL100, the crew reported they had a tyre pressure indication and would need to dump fuel.

Around 90 minutes after departure, the aircraft performed a low approach to runway 26R followed by another low approach to runway 26R, the aircraft subsequently landed on runway 26R and became disabled on the runway. Runway 26R is currently closed.

According to preliminary information the aircraft overran the end of the runway and damaged the runway lights.

This is preliminary information only based on data supplied by AVHerald.

Runway excursions can be caused by a variety of reasons, including:

Incorrect takeoff performance calculations
Inaccurate weight and balance data
Incorrect takeoff thrust or flap settings
Faulty brakes

More information will be released as the investigation progresses.

📷 by .trailz
📷 by

29/07/2026

How to fly a go around in the Boeing 737 🛫

The go around is a manoeuvre that pilots occasionally have to use, when landing is no longer the safest option.

This can be for a multitude of reasons, such as the runway being occupied by the aircraft ahead, runway damage, the approach becoming unstable because of turbulence, or if the pilots don’t achieve the required visual references at the decision altitude, plus many more.

The go around enables pilots to transition from the approach phase back into a climb phase, to level off at the missed approach altitude.

This involves increasing thrust, pitching up to the go around attitude, retracting flaps and gear and accelerating to the minimum clean speed (minimum speed that doesn’t require flaps to be extended).

The pilots will then follow the published missed approach procedure. This specifies the track and vertical profile to be flown and differs for every runway.

The secret to a successfully flown go around is to not only be very familiar with the procedure itself, but to avoid the temptation to rush.

A well executed go around is one where a pilot can calmly and methodically apply the correct procedure, whilst prioritising tasks.

To avoid the surprise and startle effect of having to suddenly abandon the approach and execute a go around, pilots are taught to commence every approach as though it’ll end in a go around. This attitude keeps the crew alert and ready, should the need to go around arise.

On top of this, the go around procedure is thoroughly briefed for every approach we fly, by both pilots whilst still up in the cruise.

I filmed this video with just me in the cockpit completing both pilot flying and pilot monitoring duties.

This is something pilots are trained to do, so that in the unlikely event of one pilot becoming incapacitated, the other pilot can safely execute a go around, should it be necessary.

Have you ever experienced a go around? 🛫

23/07/2026

Why we may need to manually trim the Boeing 737 ✈️

The aircraft is normally trimmed electronically via the trim switches on the control column.

However, to cater for the rare possibility of the electric trim failing, the trim wheels have a retractable handle that can be extended to allow the pilots to move the trim wheels manually.

Both pilots have access to their own trim wheel and the handles are offset by 90 degrees from one another to allow maximum force to be applied by the pilots if necessary.

Before we open the manual trim handle, we move the “STAB TRIM CUTOUT” switches to the cutout position. This is an important step as it removes all electronic power from the trim system.

If the power wasn’t removed, not only could we be fighting an electronic input, but the trim handle could cause a nasty injury if the electronic trim triggered an input, whilst we were holding the handle.

When the pilots manually rotate the trim wheels, they’re physically moving the horizontal stabiliser at the rear of the aircraft, via a series of cables and pulleys and jack screws.

Manually trimming can be a bit of a workout and requires clear and concise communication from both pilots.

If a small amount of trim is needed, pilot flying can trim as needed.

However, if a large trim input is needed, pilot flying can ask pilot monitoring to apply the trim for them, or they can work together to trim the aircraft.

While manually trimming, pilot monitoring can also utilise their situation awareness and observe what inputs the pilot flying is applying. Eg if you can see that the amount of nose down elevator input by PF is reducing to near the neutral point, the pilot can slow the amount of trim input to avoid over trimming in the opposite direction.

For small inputs, it’s often easier for PF to trim.

Another important skill when manually trimming is to anticipate speed, thrust and configuration changes, as any of these will require a trim change.

08/07/2026

Why the 737 landing gear lever has an “OFF” position ✈️

It’s a question I get asked quite often and understandably so!

“OFF” isn’t a logical position for the landing gear!

The landing gear is retracted into the belly of the aircraft using hydraulic pressure.

Once the gear is fully up, mechanical uplocks hold the gear safely in position.

However, with the lever in the UP position, hydraulic pressure is still being applied to the system.

This is unnecessary now that the gear is being held up with mechanical latches and places extra demand in the hydraulic pumps.

So, once the gear has been retracted, the pilots will move the gear lever from UP to OFF as part of the after takeoff checklist.

This simply removes hydraulic pressure from the retract lines.

When the pilots configure the aircraft for landing, we move the landing gear lever from OFF to DOWN.

This action releases the mechanical up locks and the gear is lowered using a combination of hydraulic pressure, gravity and air loads.

Once the gear is fully down and locked, a green light - one for each set of wheels, will illuminate.

Should the primary gear down sensors fail, we have a second set of green, gear down indicators on the overhead panel.

As long as the gear is indicating down and locked on either the primary or standby indicator, the gear is down and locked and safe to land on 👍

In the very unlikely event that the gear won’t lower normally using the landing gear lever, we have a standby gear lowering system which allows the crew to manually release the gear uplocks and allow gravity to lower the gear - see my reel showing that system in operation ✈️

If you’re starting your Boeing 737 Type Rating this year and want a significant head start from an experienced Boeing 737 TRI/TRE, comment “737” and I’ll show you how

12/06/2026

Boeing 737 automatic landing process.

The vast majority of landings are completed manually.

However, to enable flight operations to continue in low visibility conditions, aircraft have the ability to conduct autolands.

For an aircraft to be able to land automatically, we need to setup and brief for the approach slightly differently.

We also require certain ground equipment to be operational at the landing airport, such as a CAT 2/3 certified ILS, specific runway lighting and the airport being in Low Visibility Procedures etc.

The aircraft receives the ILS information and displays it to the pilots in the form of a localiser and glide slope pointer on a scale.

The pilots (or autopilot) will then adjust the ground track and rate of descent to keep the pointers in the centre of the scale, which will guide the us down to the runway.

There are 3 categories of ILS approaches.

Cat 1: This normally requires a min visibility of 550 meters and cloud base of 200 ft and will be flown manually.

CAT2: This is the first category of autoland and normally requires a visibility of 300 meters and cloud base of 100ft.

CAT 3: This has a lower visibility and cloudbase requirement than CAT 2 approaches. This enables us to land with a cloudbase of 50 feet or less, or in visibilities of 175 meters or less.

The 737 autoland process begins at 50 feet above the runway.

At 50 ft, the aircraft transitions into FLARE mode. This gently pitches the nose of the aircraft up to reduce the rate of descent.

At 27 ft, the auto throttle slowly closes the thrust levers to idle.

After touchdown, the auto speed brake will deploy the spoilers and the pilot will deploy the thrust reversers and disengage the autopilot.

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