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Understand and Calculate The Performance of Your Aircraft

Private Pilot (A) Single Subject – Flight Performance and Planning

  1. Welcome

    3 lessons
    1. Aviation Dictionaries
    2. Skybrary
    3. How To Ask Questions

  2. Flight Performance and Planning

    11 lessons
    1. Mass and Balance
    2. Take-Off & Climb
    3. Cruise Performance
    4. Flight Performance & Planning: Progress test 1
    5. Descent, Landing and Runway Dimensions
    6. Airframe Limitations
    7. The Atmosphere
    8. Wake Turbulence
    9. Ground Effect
    10. Route Planning
    11. Flight Performance & Planning: Progress test 2

Free eBook Included (350+ Pages)

More than 27 Chapters. Hundreds of illustrations. Accessible online, iOS and Android devices.

Flight Performance and Planning

This focused online course is built for aviation enthusiasts, aspiring pilots, and current flyers who want a clear, structured, and exam-aligned mastery of how aircraft performance is calculated and how to plan flights safely under real-world conditions. Designed around the official EASA Private Pilot Licence (A) Flight Performance and Planning syllabus, it delivers exactly what every PPL(A) holder must know and apply to make accurate, safe performance predictions and flight decisions.

You’ll dive into the critical factors that influence aircraft performance and planning, including:

  • Weight & balance: mass and centre of gravity calculations, loading effects, and limitations
  • Takeoff and landing performance: runway length requirements, slope, surface, wind, and configuration corrections
  • Climb, cruise, and descent performance: rates, gradients, power settings, and fuel consumption
  • Performance charts and tables: how to read, interpolate, and apply them accurately
  • Environmental effects: density altitude, pressure altitude, temperature, humidity, and wind influences
  • Fuel planning: required reserves, contingency, alternate, and en-route consumption
  • Safe flight planning: integrating all factors for realistic, conservative decision-making

Delivered through high-quality video lessons narrated by active airline pilots, supported by clear structured notes, worked examples, and progress tests, this course helps you truly understand — and remember — how to calculate performance reliably and plan flights to fly safer and smarter.