As Sporty’s lead aviation course and video producer, Bret is usually flying an interesting airplane, and often with a camera rolling. He oversees the development, production and distribution of over 30 aviation courses from Sporty's, including the Private Pilot Learn to Fly Course. He is a flight instructor and check airman at the Sporty's Academy flight school and a senior captain on a Cessna Citation.
While flying a tailwheel airplane is not much different than a traditional nosewheel airplane in the air, taking off and landing are a different story. This week’s tip takes a look at what it takes to properly land a tailwheel airplane using the “wheel method”.
Class B airspace surrounds the busiest airports, which means there are some important restrictions to remember any time you’re operating within it – or underneath it. In this week’s video tip, we review how Class B airspace works, what you need to do to fly legally in it and how to stay safe. Take a few minutes and get current today.
Many airports offer a self-serve fuel option at a cheaper price per gallon, which can offer big savings for large fillups and serve as a plan B for fuel when landing after hours when the FBO is closed. This week’s tip takes a look at how to operate a self-serve fuel system to ensure that your first time using one goes smoothly.
The electrical system is a critical component of today’s modern airplanes, distributing and supplying power to the lights, avionics and digital flight instruments. This week’s tip takes a look at the various elements that make up the electrical system in the popular Cessna 172 training airplane.
A standard traffic pattern is normally flown when setting up to approach and land at an airport. In this video, we’ll take a look at the standard ways to both enter and depart a traffic pattern, as well as look at how runways are identified based on their location and orientation.
Join Sporty’s Senior CFI Noah Frye in our new Flight Instructor Focus series, as he talks through how to fly the Power-On Stall in a Cessna 172. Noah breaks down each step of the maneuver and shares common student errors to watch for during training.
Many high-performance airplanes feature retractable landing gear that allows them to fly at higher speeds thanks to the reduced drag (and they look cool too). There are new operational considerations to learn when transitioning to this type of airplane, including the best time to raise the gear after takeoff and lower the gear before landing.
When planning for takeoff, it’s best to choose a runway at the departure airport that is most aligned with the wind. Unfortunately, the winds rarely blow right down the runway, so you must learn how to accomplish takeoffs and landings under crosswind conditions. This week’s tip looks at the control inputs required and performance implications when performing a crosswind takeoff.
A hazardous phenomenon that all pilots learn to avoid when operating at airports is wake turbulence. This invisible turbulence is caused by a pair of counterrotating vortices behind an airplane’s wingtips, generated whenever a wing develops lift.
One of the first aviation-specific weather products you’ll learn to use is called an Aviation Routine Weather Report, or METAR for short, which is an observation of weather conditions at an airport.
