Upgrade Your Aviation Knowledge

The 10 Biggest Threats for Air Ambulance Helicopters

Helicopters have a lot of threats to overcome on a daily basis. From tail rotors without redundancy, to all the moving parts and the aerodynamic counter-forces to actually stay in the air. But the biggest threats for air ambulance helicopters (and causes of accidents) aren’t actually mechanical issues, but more operational and environmental factors. When we look at the global aviation stats, helicopters do not stack up well against fixed wing stats at all! Why? Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago
Single pilot commercial flights

Single Pilot Commercial Flights: The Future, or a Massive Safety Risk?

We’ve seen waves of proposals and research in the last few years regarding single pilot operations in the commercial airline environment. Companies are constantly looking for ways to cut costs, but at what point will safety have to make way for efficiency? Today we’ll be looking at the arguments and counter-arguments for moving to a commercial aviation sector where single pilot commercial flights are the norm. Why have multi pilot operations been the norm for Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago

My Journey from Student Pilot to HEMS Commander

Today’s article is slightly different compared to the usual Pilots Who Ask Why content here. I get a lot of questions on how I got where I am in my career, what the process looked like for me, and where others who are looking to do the same could start. I’ve just been promoted to HEMS commander, after 5 years of having a blast as a First Officer, and almost 10 years of flying helicopters! Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago
The Dirty Dozen

Aviation Safety’s Biggest Obstacle: The Dirty Dozen of Human Factors

If you’re a pilot, you have probably been bombarded with the rule of thumb that roughly 70% of aviation accidents are caused by Human Factors, not technical malfunctions. We constantly get reminded of this, whether in the classroom, during safety meetings, or in accident reports. The Dirty Dozen of Human Factors can influence our performance, and are often caused by a various amount of (external and internal) variables. So what are they? Keep in mind Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago

How to Manage Fatigue and Survive Nightshifts

Sleep is something none of us can escape from. For some it’s amazing, for others it’s annoying. Pilots, like many other people in other professions, often have to deal with staying awake while everyone else is dreaming away. Lots of recent research is revealing more and more about the effects of sleep (and the lack of) on our bodies and brains. So today, we’ll be looking at how to manage fatigue, and how we can Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago
How does TCAS Work?

What is TCAS? The Ultimate Pilot Guide

TCAS is one of the most overlooked and under-appreciated systems in today’s global aviation industry. It has contributed a lot to the massively improved safety levels that have developed over time. It has proven itself over and over again, but is poorly understood at times. There is a lot going on within this system, and it can be very confusing due to all the technicalities and 234987 abbreviations in your average TCAS documentation! But don’t Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago

The Fenestron vs Conventional Tail Rotors

The Fenestron is a fascinating type of anti-torque system. Single-rotorhead helicopters have to deal with the same issues that come with pushing a rotor disc around. There are a lot of different ways to deal with these issues though. We covered the NOTAR system in a previous article. Today we’ll do some comparing: Conventional tail rotors vs the Fenestron! What is a Fenestron? Fenestrons are shrouded tail rotors that offer operational benefits compared to conventional Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago
Commercial Pressure in Aviation

Let’s Talk About Commercial Pressure in Aviation

Commercial pressure in aviation is a concept that most pilots are familiar with, especially in this day and age. Unfortunately, it’s still a massive problem in the aviation industry, and has even caused the UK CAA to publish this safety notice featuring commercial pressure. To this day, lots of accidents are still being linked to the fact pilots (or engineers) felt pressure to ‘get the job done’ without being confident they had the required variables Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago
Causes of helicopter crashes

What are the most Common Causes of Helicopter Crashes?

Helicopter incidents, accidents, and even fatal crashes are unfortunately still way too common, especially compared to the fixed wing world. Every month or so there are still news articles featuring the latest unfortunate helicopter events. These are then followed by safety reports on how to prevent it in the future, but things are seemingly not improving as much as we would like. So what are the most common causes of helicopter crashes nowadays? What does Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago
Pitot-Static Flight Instruments

How do Pitot-Static Flight Instruments Work?

Today we go back to basics! The bread and butter of a cockpit instrument panel or Primary Flight Display are the basic instruments. A big chunk of them work using air, the other chunk are mostly gyroscopic. The ones using air pressure are called pitot-static, which we are going to focus on. So how do Pitot-Static Flight instruments work exactly? For the cadets coming straight out of training this might be an easy one. But Read more…

By Jop Dingemans, ago