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.
Getting out of the traffic pattern and going on a real trip is a lot of fun. It may even be the reason you’re learning to fly in the first place. But the same reasons these trips are so much fun – new places to see, a goal at the end of the flight – can lead to challenges if you aren’t prepared. Here are six rules to keep in mind when you’re flying VFR cross countries.
Landing an airplane is one of the most challenging, yet satisfying tasks you’ll learn to master on your path towards becoming a private pilot. This week’s tip shows how to fly a stabilized final approach and help you visualize the steps necessary to transition from the roundout and flare to the touchdown.
All airports rely on a traffic pattern to allow for the efficient sequencing of both departing and arriving airplanes. Test your knowledge of these arrival and departure flows in our latest interactive scenario, by reading the traffic pattern direction and runway assignment and dragging the airplane to the correct colored path.
In the fourth and final video in the series, we offer some tips for choosing the right flight school.
Pilots should get in the habit of filing and opening VFR Flight Plans when flying away from the local airport environment. Then, in the unlikely event that you have an emergency or off-airport landing, the authorities know to come look for you along your planned route of flight.
You need to react thoughtfully and quickly in the event the engine quits or you experience an unexpected loss of power. This week’s tip covers a series of memory items to complete to try to restart the engine, and then what to do if a forced landing becomes necessary.
All airports with ATC control towers in the U.S. (and some non-towered airports) use a standard set of pavement markings and elevated signs to guide pilots from the parking airport to the active runway. In this video, we’ll explore the location and meaning of each in a simulated 3D airport environment so that you’ll be well prepared on what to expect when taxiing at a large airport.
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.
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