Why Pilots REALLY Use Flaps | Student Pilot Explainer

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Welcome back to ground school student pilots. Today's explainer is all about something you use on literally every single flight, but maybe just maybe you don't fully grasp yet. We are talking about wing flaps and trust me, we are moving way beyond just memorizing a landing checklist today.

[00:00:18]Picture your last flight for a second.

[00:00:20]You're entering the traffic pattern, you're running your pre-landing checklist, and you reach over and pull that flap lever. But honestly, why do we actually do that? Like what is physically happening out there on the wings? Today, I really want to challenge your habit of just blindly doing what the checklist says. We're going to uncover the actual why behind this maneuver so you can start flying with true purpose. So, here's our flight lesson plan for today's explainer. We're going to cover one, ground school flaps explained. Two, changing the wing shape.

[00:00:50]Three, the lift and drag trade-off.

[00:00:52]Four, solving three landing problems.

[00:00:54]And finally, five, the go-around danger.