Profs & Pints DC: How Do You Fly This Thing?

Profs and Pints DC presents: “How Do You Fly This Thing?” A discussion of the basics of piloting airplanes and navigating DC airspace, with Nate Young, FAA-certified commercial pilot and flight instructor at Washington International Flight Academy.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/fly-this-thing .]

For many of us, riding in an airplane from point A to B is an act of faith. Lacking much understanding of how the plane flies, how anyone flies it, or what’s happening around us, we sit there experiencing varying degrees of trust and trepidation.

Profs and Pints is offering those who want a deeper understanding of airplane flight the next best thing to a seat in the cockpit: An evening with an airplane pilot and instructor at one of the region’s largest flight schools.

You’ll learn the basics of how airplanes fly, focusing on the importance of lift, weight, drag, and thrust and how airplanes harness the laws of physics. You’ll be introduced to the various dials, gauges, and gizmos that are standard flight instruments in airplane cockpits and enable pilots to know airspeed, direction, and basic orientation to the ground. We’ll cover the basics of how to read a navigation chart and look at the “roadmaps” that pilots of all types use in getting around the United States.

You’ll learn how to read and predict weather like a pilot, based on how they take into consideration cold or warm fronts, low- or high-pressure systems, radar, and weather information sites. You’ll gain a sense of how to view clouds through their eyes, considering cloud shape, color, and height to predict bumpiness or unstable air and whether a nasty thunderstorm is brewing.

Young, who trains private pilots, commercial pilots wanting to become flight instructors, and retiring U.S. military pilots seeking to transition to commercial airline work, also will discuss how pilots make risk assessments using FAA-approved frameworks. We’ll cover explanations for in-flight turbulence and other things you might experience as a passenger.

Finally, we’ll cover the region’s rich aviation history and heritage and what makes airspace over Washington D.C. especially complex and restrictive, touching upon why pilots follow the Potomac River into Reagan National and what F-16s have in store for aircraft headed toward the White House without permission. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: Photo by Nate Young.