YABOONG

Intro

The steep spiral is a maneuver most of us only practice for the checkride. This time I actually had to use it.

I was flying from the right seat for CFI practice, with my instructor on the left. On the way home, the yoke shook violently every time the RPM dropped below 2,000, so we held 2,000 RPM back to our home field at 4,000ft. Over the airport, I pulled the power to idle and left it there: a steep spiral down, then a power-off 180 to RWY 32. A week later, maintenance found the cause. Here is what happened and what we learned.

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Intro

Starting December 1, 2026, a Convective SIGMET is valid for 1 hour, not 2.

• Source: [NWS] Service Change Notice 26-85, [AIM][7-1-6] Inflight Aviation Weather Advisories

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Intro

How do I actually teach XC planning well?

• That question came up while I was putting together CFI teaching material, and I kept circling back to it.
• I ended up recalling every painful, confusing moment I’d had with navlogs through my PPL, IR, and CPL, and built something out of that.
• Here’s what I built, followed by the thought process behind it.

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Intro

It all started with one question

If I’m learning pilotage, why do I have to draw a straight line from departure to destination, like I was flying GPS direct?

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Intro

Where do I even start studying for the oral?

• That was the hardest part of my PPL. I was willing to put in the work, but I had no idea what to study, how deep to go, or how much ground to cover.
• After a lot of trial and error, I landed on a method I’ve used ever since, for my IR, CPL, and now CFI.
• Here’s the method, and how I got there.

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Intro

Every question in the oral came back to one scenario: a friend hires me to fly his airplane to a birthday party.

• This is a review of my Commercial Pilot checkride in a PA-28-161 (Piper Warrior II): the questions the DPE asked, how I answered, and how the flight went.
• The oral ran about 2.5 hours, and every question was a follow-up on the cross-country scenario.
• The answers are what I said during the exam, not necessarily the correct ones. Where something needed correcting, I added a note.
• For a keyword review of the oral topics, see my Commercial Pilot Checkride Oral Cheat Sheet. For my earlier checkrides, see the PPL and IR reviews.

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Intro

• This is the CPL version of my Instrument Rating Checkride Oral Cheat Sheet.
• It’s my own cheat sheet, condensed into keywords for quick review. If you’re curious how I build these, see How I Prepare for the Checkride Oral.
• This isn’t a detailed, in-depth explanation of each topic. It’s meant for rapidly going over everything you’ve studied, especially in the week leading up to your exam.
• For what the DPE actually asked on my checkride, see My Commercial Pilot Checkride: Oral and Flight Review.
• Click the image toggles to open the related figures.

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Intro

• The topic I underestimated the most was Commercial Operations.
• I soon realized that concepts like Private vs. Common Carriage, Wet vs. Dry Leases, Holding Out, and the complex web of regulations—Part 91, 119, 119.1(e), 121, 125, and 135—are deeply interconnected and very confusing.
• I’ve put a lot of effort into unraveling these tangled concepts to truly understand how they fit together.
• In this post, I’m sharing my findings and a simplified Decision Roadmap to help fellow pilots navigate these ‘gray areas’ with clarity.

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Intro

What would you do if your RPM gauge started fluctuating at 1,000 RPM during a full-power climb at night?

I recently faced this exact scenario on an IFR flight. Although I chose a precautionary landing over declaring an emergency, the experience revealed some critical gaps in my ADM. Here is a raw debrief of what happened during my night flight and what I learned.

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Intro

The Confusion Ends: Find out how the new AIM update permanently resolves the debate between the Departure and Upwind Legs.

• Source: [AIM] Explanation of Changes, [AIM][4-3-2] Airports with an Operating Control Tower

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