Entries by studentpltnews

Friday photo: prop contrail

The moment: Prop contrails The place: Northeast Florida Regional Airport (KSGJ), St. Augustine, FL The aircraft: Super Decathlon The memory: In addition to a fun day of aerobatics, the temperatures were cool with enough moisture to produce condensation trails off the propeller tips during this spin captured by my GoPro.   Want to share your […]

Video: Flight Gear Captain’s sunglasses

Every pilot needs a reliable pair of sunglasses, but the cheap gas station ones usually don’t work. In particular, you need a pair that won’t distort avionics or iPad screens. Go flying with Sporty’s Chris McGonegle in this video to see the Flight Gear Captain’s sunglasses in action.

What’s the point of ground reference maneuvers?

Confession: I hated ground reference maneuvers as a student pilot. Eventually, my flight instructor broke through and explained why we were spending so much time on these seemingly boring lessons. I began to appreciate that doing these simple maneuvers really well was going to help me make better landings. Let’s review the point of these exercises.

Video: flying the Cirrus Vision Jet

The Vision Jet from Cirrus is the first single engine personal jet to be delivered in significant numbers, and it’s a unique blend of turbine performance and single engine simplicity. In many ways, it really feels like a bigger and faster SR22. You’ll get to go flying in one with this video, as the pilot flies from New York to Atlanta. See the startup sequence, watch the takeoff, and listen to all the ATC calls. It’s a real world look at a fascinating airplane.

Tips for navigating TFRs

Election season brings Presidential TFRs on short notice Election season is upon us which means a significant increase in presidential and vice-presidential travel and the temporary flight restriction (TFR) that follows. A TFR is a regulatory action that temporarily restricts aircraft from operating within a defined area in order to protect people or property in […]

What’s new in airman testing, September 2020

FAA recently published its September edition of “What’s New in Airman Testing” advising of recent and upcoming changes affecting the airman testing process. In the most recent edition, FAA advises it’s reviewing and revising a number of its reference handbooks. Many of the updates are related to updating terminology on recommendations from industry working groups. […]

Video: learning formation flying

Flying with friends is always more fun, but to safely fly in formation takes serious training and regular practice. Ride along with Matt Guthmiller in this video as he learns the finer points of flying mere feet from three other airplanes. It takes total concentration, but it’s also a blast. 

Video tip: S-turns across a road

During your flight training you’ll practice several different types of ground reference maneuvers to help you understand the effect wind has on the airplane when flying close to the ground. Here we’ll take a look at s-turns across a road, giving you a pilot’s eye view on how to correctly fly the maneuver.