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by Friday Morning Flight Plan at [date]
Wolfgang Langewiesche's seminal book "Stick and Rudder" informed my mindset when learning to fly. At his urging, I eschewed thinking too much about engineering facts and instead focused on intuitive information that connected the seat of my pants and the sight picture to my flying.
But even after becoming a competent, intuitive driver of the Skyhawk, I remained only marginally aware of the dynamic intricacies of its interconnected systems. I managed the controls, followed checklists, and monitored gauges, yet the machine itself remained a little opaque.
When you adopt a mindset of treating your aircraft as a machine you operate rather than a tool you merely drive, something interesting happens. You develop a steady, grounded assurance—not because you've removed uncertainty, but because you've begun to understand it.
This deeper systems knowledge complements rather than replaces the intuitive flying skills Langewiesche championed. Beyond making you a more proficient PIC, flying simply feels better.
Here are some practical in-flight exercises for pilots who are proficient in basic aircraft control and want to sharpen their systems awareness. The exercises mainly apply to typical GA piston singles; high‑performance and turbine aircraft may require different techniques.
These exercises are observational—not testing. They are intended for VFR conditions in uncongested airspace and during low-workload phases of flight. As always, consult your POH, and only perform exercises when legal and safe to do so.
As PIC, you should always prioritize flying the airplane first. Flying with a CFI familiar with your airplane can help you manage workload and derive additional insights.
Electrical
Understanding the electrical system starts with something simple: observing how it behaves in different conditions.
Here's an exercise you can try in cruise flight: Deliberately add and remove electrical loads. Turn pitot heat on, wait 10-15 seconds, look only at the ammeter and voltmeter (or loadmeter, depending on your aircraft), turn it back off. Repeat with the landing light, taxi light, panel lights, and fuel pump (if equipped). Do this both on the ramp and in cruise at a safe altitude when the RPMs and environment are different than on the ground.
What you're learning
How your airplane responds to stepped changes in load. Some alternators compensate instantly; others lag. Some needles move smoothly; some "jump." POHs rarely describe these small dynamic quirks. You learn them by observing your actual machine.
Later, if you see changes without touching anything, you instantly know something is off. Watch the system while transmitting on the radio, testing both COM1 and COM2.
What to observe
A slight dip in voltage on some older systems is perfectly normal (within your POH‑specified limits). On others, it isn't. This is how pilots recognize meaningful deviations later.
Fuel
You don't have to lean aggressively or run exotic configurations to learn something useful. Fuel systems reveal plenty on their own.
Note tank imbalance trends
If your airplane has left-right-other tanks and a common selector, switch tanks at a known, steady power setting and note fuel flow or pressure behavior (if your aircraft is equipped with these gauges).
What you're learning
Many aircraft have a tank that feeds slightly differently. This information is invaluable if you ever need to troubleshoot a fuel delivery issue.
Engine Dynamics
Even without discussing mixture explicitly, pilots can gain valuable insight into engine behavior.
Make small, measured power changes
At cruise, bump the throttle forward half an inch, wait, then pull it back half an inch. Observe RPM response, noise change, vibration change, EGT, and cylinder temps if you have them.
Any unexpected roughness, new noises, or unusual readings should trigger a conservative response rather than continuing the exercise.
Why it matters
Engines have personality. Some respond crisply. Some lag. Some make a barely perceptible harmonic at certain RPMs. You won't know what's meaningful until you know what's normal.
Shift and listen
During straight-and-level cruise when stable and trimmed, slightly shift your seating posture or hand position—while maintaining positive control of the aircraft—and just listen to the engine for 15 seconds. You'll notice small rhythmic vibrations, propeller beat patterns, and changes in smoothness as attitude changes. This builds a subconscious reference you can't get from charts.
Seasonal Personality
Engines and systems behave differently in summer than in winter, and pilots learn to notice those differences.
Compare cold-start and hot-start temperatures
On the ramp, watch oil temperature rise over the first two minutes after startup in winter and compare it to summer.
Why it matters
Understanding warm-up behavior gives you a baseline. If the engine warms too quickly or too slowly someday, you'll notice and can investigate before flight.
Monitor climb performance trends
Instead of ‘it climbed okay,’ quantify it by noting the climb rate on a close-to-standard day for your region, then compare month-to-month and condition-to-condition weatherwise. There's no need to log data obsessively. Just pay attention enough that you recognize an outlier.
TLDR
Building systems awareness isn't about memorizing schematics or over-analyzing every gauge. It's about building a working picture of the airplane's normal behavior so that abnormal stands out immediately.
When you know how your alternator responds, how your tanks feed, how your engine sounds at different power settings, and how your airplane acts across the seasons, you reduce uncertainty without increasing workload.
Most GA pilots conduct flights well enough. But by adding detailed understanding to the operations occurring in the aircraft, a pilot gains an additional measure of confidence rooted in knowledge. That's a satisfaction worth pursuing—not flashier performance, but deeper familiarity with your flying machine.