The Art of Chair Flying

Piloting involves many activities that demand practice and repetition. Workflows, checklists, maneuvers, and other matters fit that description. These are important things for proficient piloting.

As it turns out, airplane time is costly. And you cannot pause an airplane in midair to re-run a scenario or item. But on the ground, we can mentally simulate discrete scenarios and flight processes in conditions without the limitations of an airplane’s constant demand for forward motion—and without the expense. We call this “chair flying.”

Chair flying can be a very efficient—and effective—way to practice maneuvers, procedures, workflows, checklists, and other scenarios. If you don’t use it regularly, give it a shot. Try chair flying an instrument approach. Or lazy eights (for that one, you can even “fly” yourself around the room, your yard, or a parking lot). Or Emergency procedures. Or a simple traffic pattern. Anything!

Chair flying is just one more tool you can use to (efficiently) make the most of your flight time—by practicing on the ground. It’s free reps.

-AA