About

What the heck is pfactor?

P-factor is one of the forces acting on an airplane. The blades of the propeller do more to the airplane than you might expect, and if you’re really interested read this explanation. I liked the name pfactor for this website, since my first name starts with P.

About Us

I’m Phil Verghese, a flight instructor and owner of the 1977 Mooney 201 pictured at the top of the page. My wife Nancy is also a pilot and we’ve published notes from some of our flying adventures in the Trip Journals section. People seem to really enjoy reading two different perspectives about a flying trip.

There’s something magical about traveling by air. I’ve been fascinated by flight for as long as I can remember. After many years of thinking about it, I decided to learn to fly. I earned my private pilot certificate, and added the instrument rating shortly after that. I enjoyed just flying around for several years then I decided to become a flight instructor to help others discover the joy of aviation. The old saying holds true: the best way learn something is to teach it. Giving flight instruction has certainly made me a better pilot. After about 2 years of being an Airplane Single-Engine instructor, I passed my instrument instructor test so that I could teach people how to be proficient instrument pilots and fly in the IFR system.

When I’m not flying I pay the bills by working as a software engineer. It’s a rewarding job, and I don’t have any plans to quit doing that to be a full-time pilot (and no, I didn’t just put that in just in case my boss finds this site). Part of the reason that I enjoy flying so much is because I do it for fun. I get to choose my destinations, passengers, and route. That would not be the case if I decided to become a corporate or airline pilot. Many pilots serve as flight instructors until they have built up enough hours to move on to flying freight or people, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. My goal is not to build up hours; it’s to help others discover the joy of flight and develop the skills and judgment to continue flying for a long time.

Trip journals, aviation tidbits, and more