RedBull isn&#;t the only thing that can give you wings. Your couch can, too. You may as well throw out your racecar bed and replace it with an airplane one, &#;cause that has wings too. The Flight School at Colorado Springs offers a Private Pilot Ground School that&#;ll teach you how to turn anything into an airplane cockpit.
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You&#;re sitting at home in your living room and you reach for the beer checklist on the coffee table and imagine you&#;re on a beach in the cockpit in Mexico at 9,500 feet. &#;Top of climb. Cruise checklist. Throttle?&#; You reach for the arm of the chair and bring the throttle lever back, watching as the RPM needle drops. &#;Set. Mixture?&#; You reach for the mixture lever&#;or rather, where it would be&#;
This is chair flying&#;it&#;s sitting nearly anywhere, practicing the flow of cockpit operations as a means of reinforcing memory items and muscle memory. It&#;s a free, easy way to practice and improve your in-cockpit skills so that when you fly next, you won&#;t waste time and money trying to remember what you&#;re supposed to do next.
Is the weather bad? If the aircraft isn&#;t flying and isn&#;t in the shop (and many times, even if it is in the shop) you can drive out to the field and sit in the plane to practice your flows while the aircraft is off&#;you&#;re only charged for the time the aircraft is running. Touching the controls while you run through your checklists can help improve your muscle memory!
As flight instructors, something we often experience during a lesson is wasted time on the ground with the engine running. Though we encourage students to memorize checklists and &#;chair fly&#; at home to become more familiar with how the flow of tasks in the cockpit feels, we inevitably find ourselves on the fifth, tenth or twentieth lesson watching a student question us as to &#;what&#;s next?&#;
A typical two-hour lesson at any given flight school involves a healthy amount of pre-flight ground discussion, a lengthy preflight inspection, some taxi practice and a lengthy run-up, a flight to the practice area, a lesson or two on some maneuvers, the flight back to the airport, the taxi to the ramp, a post-flight inspection and tie-down and a post-flight discussion of what was covered. Often, less than half of the lesson is spent in the air.
Let&#;s be clear: speed is an enemy of safety. We&#;re not advocating for mindlessly accelerating pre-flight safety checks. What we are recommending is showing up to lessons better-prepared to accomplish tasks you can learn to do on the ground with appropriate expediency.
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
A talking seal
Any student will spend plenty of time on the ground with the engine running learning to accomplish a proper run-up. But our Private Pilot Ground School teaches students how to study checklists so they&#;re ready to actually fly through their training.
With thorough preparation, sufficient chair-flying and a solid foundation of knowledge from ground school, there&#;s no reason anyone shouldn&#;t be able to start, taxi and run-up and airplane in just a few short minutes. By reducing the amount of time spent on easily-memorized and easily-practiced start-up and run-up flows, more time can be spent in the air, learning how to actually fly.
Even if you only save 0.1 hours per lesson by learning to do your pre-taxi and run-up in a more orderly fashion (you&#;ll likely save closer to .3 or .4, especially early on), you&#;ll save 2 or 3 full hours of flight time in the course of your Private Pilot training alone&#;that&#;s two entire lessons worth of time and well over $400 in savings on aircraft rental and instructor time. Now do the math for the 250 hours you&#;ll spend in the cockpit training to become a commercial pilot&#;
What do you prioritize when booking your seat on a flight? Choosing your spot can be stressful, especially if you're traveling during the holidays with a tight schedule and limited options. Do you want the window or the aisle? On a long flight, a window may be preferable for sleeping, but then what happens when you need to get up? Is it really worth awkwardly climbing over a whole row of people to go to the bathroom?
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who isn't a frequent flyer and who wanted to know how to choose the best seat on a flight. I travel a lot: I've flown to and from every continent (except Antarctica) multiple times. My most recent long-haul, at 15 hours, was from LA to Sydney, a flight I've taken a few times before. As I was giving my friend a verbal download, explaining what I do for every flight, I realized, "Hey, I should write that down."
So if you're a million-miler with your favorite airline and have your frequent flyer number tattooed on your bicep, this won't be news to you. But if you haven't flown in a while -- or maybe never -- this advice could help. Personally, I'm always willing to spend a little more for the privilege of being able to choose my own seat -- or I fly with an airline where I have enough status that it's free to choose. To me, it's a small price to pay to avoid a middle seat.
Let's start with the basics and go from there.
Don't expect too much comfort no matter what seat you pick.
There's no right or wrong answer here. It's absolutely down to personal preference. For me, I always choose the window. Even after flying all over the world, seeing it all from 35,000 feet never gets old. Also, it lets you lean against something to sleep, and you don't get wobbly passengers bumping into you every few minutes.
On the other hand, the aisle is an equally valid choice. The biggest reason: You're free to get up and move around anytime you want. Need to use the bathroom? No need to wake your seatmates. Want to stretch your legs? Go for it.
That said, if you haven't flown in a while, or ever, it's hard to beat watching the world pass below at 550 mph.
Ideally, you can get a seat where the wing isn't in the way of the view. Not always possible though. Also, check out that huge window. This is on a Boeing 787. More on aircraft types below.
Usually, it's best to pick a seat toward the front of the plane for several reasons: It's usually quieter, and you can get on and off faster.
There's a balance between choosing front/back and window/aisle. Is it worth it, if you want a window seat, to sit in the back of the plane if that's the only option? Usually, I'd say yes. If you have a short connection, where it will be many minutes for all the rows ahead to deplane, perhaps not. In that case, an aisle seat close to the front might be the better choice.
The interior of Boeing's upcoming 777X.
Also note where the wing is. On most aircraft, the coach seats begin just forward of the wing. If you can snag a seat forward of the wing, do it, as it will be a little quieter and offer a better view.
It's also worth keeping an eye out for bulkhead seats. Bulkhead seats, those next to one of the vertical bulkhead walls that separate sections in the aircraft, can sometimes be great. Without a seat in front of you, you'll often have a bit more room. However, you'll have to stow all your belongings in the overhead bins for takeoff and landing. Also, it's more likely for there to be babies in your row. On many aircraft, the seats are narrower, too, since the entertainment screen is mounted in between them on a pivot arm.
Avoid seats in front of a bulkhead, however. These often have limited, and potentially no, recline.
It's also good to avoid being too close to the galley or bathrooms, especially on longer flights. These areas can be noisy and crowded, and potentially proffer particular pungencies.
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See at Stack SocialBulkhead seats might have additional legroom, but come at a price (either literal or figurative).
This isn't the easy choice it's often made out to be. Usually, you won't be able to store any luggage under the seat in front of you. You'll also need to be able to speak the native language of the airline company (not an issue if you're only flying in your home country). Some aircraft have two exit rows, so the first row won't recline.
Also, the window seats here are way less fun. The windows are in the emergency exit doors, and are often smaller than elsewhere on the aircraft. I've also found these seats to be significantly colder than the rest of the plane.
That said, you will typically get more legroom.
Getting settled in for my 15-hour flight to Sydney. Check out the huge windows on this 787. The button at the bottom controls the electrochromic opacity instead of having a traditional window shade.
The above three tips cover just about every aircraft. But what about the times you can choose a different plane? Many routes are covered by multiple airlines flying different types of aircraft. If you're not bound to a specific airline, and if you're reading this I'm guessing you're not, it's worth digging a bit deeper and checking your options. You don't need to know every model of every plane, just two things.
First, if there's an option to fly a Boeing 787 or Airbus A350, consider those. These aircraft feature a more modern design, with higher cabin pressure and humidity. This makes them more comfortable to sit in for many hours. It can be the difference between arriving after a 12-plus hour flight feeling fine or feeling wasted. I've also found the 787 to be quieter than other aircraft. Best of all, the windows are huge -- significantly larger than those on other aircraft.
A 787 in Air New Zealand's livery.
Another aspect to consider is cabin layout. Shorter routes are typically flown on smaller aircraft, usually with a 3-3 layout, as in three seats, an aisle, and three more seats. Longer flights, usually with larger "wide body" aircraft, might have 2-3-2, 3-3-3, or in some cases, 3-4-3. This offers a bunch of new choices. I love a good 2-3-2 since you can have a window seat with only one person next to you. With the larger/denser designs, I'd say an aisle on the edges is better than an aisle in the middle, since you're at least somewhat near a window. An aisle in the middle of a 3-3-3 only has one person that might need to climb over you to get to the toilet. It's also better than a middle seat anywhere.
Select your flight and SeatGuru will show you a layout of the likely aircraft for that flight. Avoid the red seats for sure. I tend to avoid the yellow ones too, when possible.
My last step, before I book, is to check SeatGuru. This site rates the seats on different aircraft across most airlines. Why didn't I just send you here first? Well, it doesn't give you much in the way of what's "best," more what's bad and what could be a little better. For instance, it will say a seat behind the bulkhead is probably good, and the one in front probably bad. However, it will rate a window seat near the front of the plane the same as one in the back. If you know what you're looking for, it's a handy tool. If you're less familiar, like you don't know what's larger, a 380, a 777 or a 787, it's less useful.
The best use of SeatGuru is finding out if your carefully chosen window seat actually has a window. Yep, that's a thing, and the airline won't tell you on their website. They'll gladly take your money to choose that seat, though.
My business class seat to Sydney. United's Polaris design gets you a lie-flat seat, no seatmate, a table, and more.
There are a variety of ways to upgrade your seat, either to an economy plus seat (standard seat, better room) or even business class (much bigger seat). Is this worth it? Sometimes, yes. For my recent 15-hour flight to Sydney, I used a tremendous amount of airline points to fly business class, and it was a wonderful treat. Lots of food, a seat that converted to a bed, a big TV -- it was just pure luxury. Would I have been better off getting a flight (or two) for free using the same miles? Almost certainly. But it was my first international flight since COVID so I treated myself.
My general rule is for any flight less than 10 hours, I don't consider an upgrade. Anything over 12, I do. For instance, I'd say US cross-country flights are a total waste of upgrade points unless you have tons to spare.
Somewhere in-between is the extra legroom provided by economy plus, also known as premium economy and other similar names. Many airlines offer this, either via points or a cash upgrade. I'm just under 6 feet and can more or less cram myself into a standard economy seat. If you're taller, or of the particularly long-legged variety, these seats (or exit row seats) are definitely worth considering.
There are a few more things to help ensure the best flight possible.
An Airbus A350.
Looking for more travel tips? Check out Long Flight Must Haves for some items I always bring on every flight.
As well as covering audio and display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile road trips and more.
Also check out Budget Travel for Dummies, his travel book, and his bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines. You can follow him on Instagram and YouTube.
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