Sometimes things go wrong in flight that are gradual and the pilot has time to react. But there are other situations that we call “CLIFFS” in aviation that are caused entirely by faulty pilot decision-making, often pre-flight, that create immediate catastrophic situations that may not be recoverable. Donna Knighton, a CFII and aircraft performance and flying qualities engineer, looks at 3 areas to avoid falling off such a CLIFF: 1) AIRCRAFT LOADING. Review of Longitudinal Stability, aircraft CG and moments, and how loading the aircraft outside the approved CG range (fwd or aft) and weight range affects the aircraft. How an improper CG can create a non-flyable aircraft. 2) PERFORMANCE CHARTS – how they were made, and why “flying on the edge” of your charts is not a good idea. A review of the effects of Density Altitude, humidity, gusty winds, aircraft age, and pilot technique. What do you do when your DA is off the scale? Is the aircraft “linear”? 3) RUNNING OUT OF GAS – it still happens too often to experienced pilots. — Skyfarer is not affiliated with the FAA. This event is listed for informational purposes from the FAA Safety Team (FAASafety.gov) public calendar. For official details, updates, and registration, visit the FAA event page: https://www.faasafety.gov/spans/event_details.aspx?eid=145694