The words that get thrown at you on day one of ground school, explained in plain English — licences, navigation, weather, airspace and radio telephony. Every one of them appears somewhere inside EARNWINGS.
India's civil aviation regulator. It sets the syllabus, conducts the ground examinations and issues pilot licences. EARNWINGS follows its syllabus and exam pattern but is an independent study platform, not affiliated with or approved by the DGCA.
The civil aviation regulator for the European Union, which sets the ATPL theory subjects and licensing standards across member states. EARNWINGS covers the DGCA syllabus today; EASA is on the roadmap.
The civil aviation regulator of the United States, which sets US pilot certification and the written knowledge tests. On the EARNWINGS roadmap, not in the app today.
The Canadian civil aviation authority, responsible for pilot licensing and written examinations in Canada. The next syllabus EARNWINGS is being taken to after the DGCA.
The licence that allows you to be paid to fly. Earning it means clearing the DGCA ground subjects, meeting the required flying hours and passing the skill test — the goal most Indian student pilots are working towards.
The highest level of pilot licence, required to act as pilot-in-command of a scheduled airliner. The ground subjects go deeper than CPL, and many pilots clear the ATPL papers while flying as a First Officer.
A licence to fly privately, not for hire or reward. Usually the first licence a student earns, and a stepping stone to the CPL.
The licence that permits you to operate an aircraft radio, examined separately from the flying licence. It has a written/oral component on regulations and equipment, and a practical component on standard phraseology.
The unique candidate number the DGCA issues to a student pilot. You need it before you can register for the ground examinations, and it follows you through your licensing.
The medical fitness assessment required for a commercial licence, carried out by a DGCA-authorised medical examiner. A Class 2 medical is the lower standard used for private flying.
The practical flight test with an examiner that you must pass for a licence or rating to be issued. Often called a checkride.
A DGCA-approved flying school where you do your actual flying training — aircraft, instructors, and the operational side of becoming a pilot. Ground classes may run alongside your flying slots, which is exactly the gap a self-paced app fills.
The theory half of pilot training: the subjects you must clear in the DGCA examinations before a licence is issued. Also called ground classes.
The instructor responsible for the ground-training syllabus at an FTO — the person who owns what is taught on the theory side and to what standard.
The instructor responsible for flying training at an FTO, including standards, checks and student progress in the air.
The first time you fly an aircraft alone, without an instructor on board. A milestone every pilot remembers, and usually the moment training stops feeling theoretical.
A flight between two aerodromes beyond the local training area, requiring real navigation and flight planning rather than circuits.
The standard rectangular pattern flown around an aerodrome for takeoffs and landings, with defined legs: upwind, crosswind, downwind, base and final.
The training and privilege that allows you to fly at night, with its own requirements for instrument flying and night landings.
The rating that lets you fly by sole reference to instruments in cloud or poor visibility, under Instrument Flight Rules.
The training and licence endorsement required to fly a specific aircraft type, such as an A320 or B737. Usually the last step before an airline job.
The formal record of every flight you make — date, aircraft, route, time, and the capacity you flew in. Your hours only count if they are logged and certified.
A published corridor in the sky, defined by waypoints and navigation aids, along which controlled traffic flies. Real flight planning means routing along airways that actually exist rather than drawing a straight line on a map.
A defined geographic position used for navigation, identified by a five-letter name. Airways are strung together from waypoints.
The international data standard describing navigation databases — airways, waypoints, aerodromes and procedures — in the form aircraft navigation systems consume.
A ground-based navigation aid that transmits radials, letting an aircraft determine its bearing to or from the station. A backbone of conventional airway navigation.
An older ground-based beacon that an aircraft's ADF instrument points towards. Simple, affected by weather and terrain, and still examinable.
Equipment that measures slant-range distance between the aircraft and a ground station, usually paired with a VOR or ILS.
A precision approach aid providing both lateral guidance (localiser) and vertical guidance (glideslope) down to the runway.
Navigation that allows an aircraft to fly any desired path within the coverage of navigation aids or satellite navigation, rather than only directly to or from ground beacons.
RNAV with on-board performance monitoring and alerting — the aircraft not only navigates to a required accuracy but knows when it cannot.
Calculating your position from a known starting point using heading, speed and elapsed time. The foundation of the navigation paper, and what you fall back on when the aids fail.
The shortest path between two points on the Earth's surface. Its track direction changes continuously, which is why long routes look curved on a flat chart.
A path crossing every meridian at the same angle — a constant track. Easier to fly than a great circle, but longer.
The angular difference between true north and magnetic north at a given place. It changes with location and slowly over time, and must be applied when converting between true and magnetic directions.
The error in a magnetic compass caused by the aircraft's own metal and electrical systems, recorded on a compass correction card.
The sideways displacement of an aircraft caused by wind. Correcting for it is the difference between your heading and your track.
A routine observation of actual weather at an aerodrome, issued in a coded format: wind, visibility, present weather, cloud, temperature, dew point and pressure. It tells you what the weather IS right now.
A coded forecast of expected weather at an aerodrome over a defined period. Where a METAR is an observation, a TAF is a prediction — which is what you plan against.
A warning of weather hazardous to aircraft in flight, such as thunderstorms, severe turbulence, icing or volcanic ash, covering a region rather than a single aerodrome.
The altimeter setting that makes your altimeter read height above mean sea level. Set QNH and your altimeter shows altitude — the setting used for terrain separation.
The altimeter setting that makes your altimeter read zero on the aerodrome. Useful in the circuit, because the instrument then shows height above the field.
An agreed model atmosphere — 15°C and 1013.25 hPa at sea level, with defined lapse rates — used as the reference for performance calculations and altimetry.
Pressure altitude corrected for temperature: the altitude the aircraft's engine and wings think they are at. High, hot and humid means high density altitude and badly degraded performance.
The two sets of rules a flight operates under. VFR requires flying with visual reference to the ground in defined minimum weather; IFR allows flight by instruments in cloud, with an instrument rating and an ATC clearance.
The height above ground of the lowest cloud layer reported as broken or overcast. With visibility, it decides whether an approach is legal.
The service that separates aircraft and sequences traffic, issuing clearances and instructions by radio. Learning to talk to ATC fluently is as examinable as any other subject.
A large volume of airspace within which flight information and alerting services are provided. Crossing from one FIR into another has its own radio procedure.
Controlled airspace around an aerodrome, extending from the surface upwards, that you need a clearance to enter.
Controlled airspace, usually where several airways converge near a busy aerodrome, handling arriving and departing traffic.
The airspace immediately around an aerodrome within which traffic must comply with its procedures.
A notice of anything temporarily changed or hazardous that a pilot must know — a closed runway, an unserviceable navigation aid, restricted airspace. Checking NOTAMs is part of every real flight plan, not an afterthought.
The fixed 28-day cycle on which aeronautical data changes take effect worldwide, so everyone switches to new charts and navigation data on the same date.
The official national publication of aeronautical information — aerodrome details, procedures, airspace and charts — issued electronically and updated on the AIRAC cycle.
A published departure procedure taking you from the runway to the enroute structure, so a clearance can be issued by name instead of read out step by step.
A published arrival procedure connecting the enroute structure to the start of an approach.
The published procedure flown from the end of the arrival down to a point where you can land visually, with defined tracks, altitudes and minima.
The four-digit transponder code ATC assigns so your aircraft is identified on radar. Certain codes are reserved for emergencies, radio failure and unlawful interference.
The calculation confirming the aircraft is within its weight limits and its centre of gravity is inside the permitted envelope. Get it wrong and the aircraft may be unflyable regardless of engine power.
The point through which the aircraft's total weight acts. Its position changes with loading and fuel burn, and directly affects stability and control.
The greatest weight at which the aircraft is certified to begin its take-off run.
The weight of the aircraft with everything on board except usable fuel — the structural limit that fuel loading cannot fix.
The declared distances for a runway: Take-Off Run Available, Take-Off Distance Available, Accelerate-Stop Distance Available and Landing Distance Available. Performance calculations are worked against them.
The engine and everything that makes it work — induction, fuel, ignition, lubrication, cooling and propeller. One of the DGCA ground subjects in its own right.
The standard words and structure used on the radio, so a transmission means exactly one thing to every listener regardless of accent or language. Not a style preference — a safety system.
The spoken distress signal, said three times, declaring grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance. It gives you absolute priority.
The spoken urgency signal, said three times, for a serious situation that does not yet require immediate assistance — a step below MAYDAY.
Repeating a clearance or instruction back to ATC so both parties confirm it was received correctly. Certain items must always be read back.
Coloured light signals used by a control tower to direct an aircraft whose radio has failed — steady green, red, flashing signals, each with a defined meaning in the air and on the ground.