Carb Heat Calculus — VFR Mastery Scenario

Carb Heat Calculus

#87 | OCTOBER 2025

Is use of carb heat a routine procedure or a response to an emergency? You can remedy the situation, but it’s bound to return in the same conditions. POH guidance and tribal knowledge disagree on the best way to proceed. You’re alone at the controls with miles to go, so only you can decide.

Catherine Cavagnaro

Catherine Cavagnaro (CFI-I, MEI, ATP, DPE) offers spin and aerobatic instruction in addition to her position as Professor of Mathematics at Sewanee. She is a monthly contributor to AOPA Pilot Magazine and serves as a Designated Pilot Examiner for the Nashville FSDO. Catherine is the 2020 FAA Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year and the 2018 FAA Safety Representative of the Year. In 2018 she was inducted into the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame.