Masonry Blog : Flight Training Central

Sporty’s Most Frequently Missed Test Questions—March 2025

Here are the five most often missed questions from March 2025 on the simulated Private Pilot Knowledge Test.

April 11, 2025/by Eric Radtke

See and Be Seen: Test Your Pilot Traffic Awareness Skills

All pilots must maintain vigilance to see and avoid other aircraft. In a see-and-be-seen environment you should continuously scan all areas visible from the cockpit. But do you know the best method to accomplish this? What about at night? Take this quiz and test your ability to spot a potential traffic conflict and avoid a dangerous collision.

April 7, 2025/by Chris Clarke

New episodes of Sporty’s Pilot’s Discretion Podcast

Pilot's Discretion brings you authentic conversations with some of aviation's most interesting people. From honest discussions about flight training to fascinating stories from world famous airshow pilots, this podcast is for anyone who loves to fly. No news or fluff, just thought-provoking conversations.

April 4, 2025/by Flight Training Central Staff

Pilot technique video: How to recover from a bounced landing

Not every approach and landing will be by the book during your training, and you'll inevitably encounter situations when you round out too high, overshoot the touchdown point or bounce after the initial touchdown. This is perfectly normal and learning how to recover from these scenarios will improve your confidence and help you make better landings in the long run.

April 2, 2025/by Bret Koebbe

Mastering Approach Lighting Systems: Key Insights for IFR Pilots

Approach lighting systems are critical during low ceiling and low visibility conditions when you must decide whether to continue to land or execute a missed approach. If when reaching the minimum descent altitude or decision altitude on the approach and you have the approach lights in sight, you are permitted to descend to 100 feet above the touchdown zone elevation published for the runway.

March 31, 2025/by Eric Radtke

Redbird’s 2025 Flight Training Survey: Costs and Completion Time Hold Steady

Each year, the Redbird State of Flight Training Survey provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of flight training, and the 2025 report brings some welcome stability. Despite ongoing discussions about the cost and time required to earn a pilot certificate, this year's data shows that both remain largely unchanged from previous years.

March 28, 2025/by Eric Radtke

How pilots can use Convective Outlook weather charts to avoid thunderstorms

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.

March 26, 2025/by Bret Koebbe

Flight Maneuver Spotlight: Traffic Pattern Entry Procedures

Standard traffic patterns are established at nontowered airports to provide a smooth flow of traffic from the arrival phase of flight through approach and landing. Here are the steps to follow to safely and efficiently join the pattern and get established on the final approach leg for landing.

March 24, 2025/by Flight Training Central Staff

Engine Failure After Takeoff—What Would You Do?

A pre-takeoff briefing exists to remove hesitation and doubt from split-second emergency decisions after takeoff. The problem is that most real-world departures present several opportunities to go off script. Some of those improvisations could turn an off-field crash into an uneventful runway landing—or a disaster.

March 21, 2025/by Pilot Workshops

How to calculate airplane weight and balance: Pilot video tutorial

Take the time to compute the total weight of the airplane and center of gravity (CG) before every flight, based on the number of occupants, baggage and fuel and where each item is positioned in the airplane. This week's tip takes a look at how to compute a typical weight and balance calculation and how to verify the results are within limits.

March 19, 2025/by Bret Koebbe