Learning to Fly
Step into the cockpit and discover what it takes to earn your wings. From your first discovery flight and emergency drills to cross-country navigation and the checkride, master the essential skills of a student pilot.
Like Duolingo, but for Learning to Fly. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
24 levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes end to end, roughly 10 days at five minutes a day. It moves through In the Cockpit: Taking the Controls; Pilot Senses: Instruments, Radios, and Emergencies; and Navigation and Becoming a Pilot. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Learning to Fly
- In basic visual flying, the real horizon visible through the windshield is the primary reference
- Placing the airplane's nose a fixed distance above or below the outside horizon establishes pitch, while keeping wings parallel to it establishes level bank
- Staring inside at cockpit instruments causes beginners to chase readings and overcontrol the airplane
- Turning the yoke rotates the ailerons to bank or roll the wings
- Pushing or pulling the control yoke moves the elevator to pitch the nose down or up
- Rudder pedals swing the tail rudder left or right to align the nose straight into the wind
- Wings generate lift straight upward when level; tilting the wings directs a portion of that lift sideways, pulling the airplane through a turn
- The rudder does not turn the airplane by itself; its primary job in a turn is to counteract adverse yaw and keep the airplane aligned
- Turning solely with the rudder without banking causes an uncomfortable and inefficient skid
- Raising or lowering the nose with the yoke primarily changes airspeed; raising the nose slows the airplane down
- Engine throttle controls the power available to climb, descend, or maintain altitude
- Coordinating both controls is necessary because changing pitch affects speed while changing throttle affects altitude
- You always fly the airplane to your desired attitude first using the yoke
- Once holding that attitude requires continuous pushing or pulling, you move the trim wheel in the direction of the pressure until the force disappears
- Trimming relieves control pressure so the airplane flies hands-off; you do not use the trim wheel as a primary flight control to change pitch
- After climbing straight out on departure, the pilot turns onto the crosswind leg perpendicular to the runway
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Learning to Fly the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
How do you keep your plane flying straight and level using the horizon outside?
Get it right to open this lesson and 23 more in the app.
How to learn Learning to Fly, step by step
Go in order. 24 short levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
In the Cockpit: Taking the Controls
- The First Flight: Attitude Flying and the Four Fundamentals
- The Airport Traffic Pattern and Landing
- 2
Pilot Senses: Instruments, Radios, and Emergencies
- Scanning the Six-Pack Flight Instruments
- Radio Communication and Controlled Airspace
- Emergency Drills: Stalls and Engine Failures
- 3
Navigation and Becoming a Pilot
- Cross-Country Navigation: Charts, Wind, and Dead Reckoning
- Preflight Inspection, Weight, and Weather Calls
- Soloing and the Path to the Private Pilot License
3 sections · 8 units · 24 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about Learning to Fly
How do I learn Learning to Fly?
Go in order: start with In the Cockpit: Taking the Controls, then Pilot Senses: Instruments, Radios, and Emergencies, then Navigation and Becoming a Pilot. On Tomo that's 24 short levels, about 48 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for Learning to Fly?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Learning to Fly is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the Learning to Fly course free?
Yes. Learning to Fly is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn Learning to Fly?
24 levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start Learning to Fly?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Learning to Fly is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Learning to Fly today.
Download Tomo, search Learning to Fly, and play your first lesson in under a minute.