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.
The airplane preflight inspection is performed before each flight to ensure that all the required paperwork is on board, that the airplane systems are working properly and that the correct amount of fuel and oil are in the tanks. It’s your chance to really look the airplane over inside and out to assure yourself that it’s ready to fly, because once you’re airborne, you just can’t pull over in case something goes wrong.
Visual approach slope indicators use a combination of white and red lights next to the runway to help pilots verify they are flying the correct approach angle to the runway. This week’s video takes a closer look at 2 types, VASI and PAPI, to show you how they work and what the various indications mean.
This week’s tip covers a topic that all pilots need to know: power-off stalls. Learn how to practice them the right way, and how the location of the center of gravity (CG) affects stall speed.
All pilots look forward to learning how to master the approach and landing since it is one of the most dynamic moments of every flight. Follow along with our 3D flight maneuver video to see how it’s done.
You made a series of reasonable decisions in the name of comfort and safety, only to create a situation where you’re tight on both fuel and options. Will you wager your last hour of fuel on making just one landing at the airport beneath you or take the chance on making it to an alternate?
Class C and D airspace will surround airports that can handle a moderate amount of air traffic. This means there are some important restrictions to remember any time you’re operating within – or underneath this airspace. In this week’s video tip, we review how Class C and D airspace works, what you need to do to fly legally in it and how to stay safe.
The week’s tip looks at the Convective Outlook chart, which provides both short and long-term planning guidance for determining the location and intensity of thunderstorm activity.
It’s important for pilots to have a good understanding of airplane systems to know how to properly operate their controls and troubleshoot them when things don’t work as expected. This week’s tip takes a look at the Cessna 172 fuel system to show each component and give you a better understanding of how all the parts work together.
Gone are the days of making an educated guess on a route, only to have ATC respond with a full route clearance with intersections and airways. It now takes only a moment in ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot or FltPlan.com to enter a departure and destination airport and then see recently issued clearances to other aircraft flying the same route.
The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a precision approach that provides instrument pilots with both lateral and vertical guidance to a runway. In this video, Spencer Suderman demonstrates what it’s like to fly an ILS in a Cessna 172 with a Garmin G1000 avionics system, and how to use the runway approach lighting system to descend below the decision altitude and find the runway when the ceiling is less than 200′ AGL.
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