The most commonly misunderstood regulations and procedures

I had the pleasure of hosting a popular online panel discussion…
Fuel gauges

Common Aircraft Fuel Myths

There are a number of fuel related myths and misrepresentations floating around the general aviation industry. While I can't touch them all, I hope to provide some enlightenment around a couple of them in this post.

FAA announces complex aircraft change

As you may have heard, earlier this week the FAA announced…

Updated Private and Commercial Airman Certification Standards

Effective June 12, 2017 - Sporty's Learn to Fly Course updated   FAA…

Pilots Guide to BasicMed

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If you’ve held a valid medical certificate at any point after…

Legacy Navigation Systems

Today, many pilots navigate using GPS as their primary navigation source. There are older navigation systems such as NDB and VOR that continue to have a place in today's National Airspace System (NAS) but whose prominence is beginning to fade. I am calling these legacy navigation systems and the point of this post is to explain what is happening to them.

FAA medical reform – what it means for pilots

If you’ve held a valid medical certificate in the past 10…

Guide to Part 107 Drone Operations

On August 29, 2016, new operational rules become effective for routine, commercial use of small, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or “drones.” It’s known as Part 107 and is viewed as an early pathway to fully integrating drones into the national airspace. The much anticipated rulemaking has been applauded by many industry trade groups and helps provide structure to what has been a somewhat chaotic environment.
Kid in airplane

Airman Certification Standards (ACS) – a pilot report

A new, enhanced version of the Practical Test Standards (PTS) is coming mid-June, 2016 for Private Pilot Airplane and Instrument Rating Airplane. The ACS is a good and necessary evolution of the PTS that’s sure to bring about greater synergy across all phases of certification by integrating the applicable components.

What’s Up with the Student Pilot Certificate?

In the middle of January, stories began to trickle out that the FAA had published a new set of rules about changes to the student pilot certificate. With an implementation date indicated as April 1st, 2016, and no notice that we could recall here at Sporty's Academy, we thought that it might be an April Fools prank. It was few days later that the notice of a final rule finally appeared on the FAA's Recently Published Rulemaking site and we found out that it was true.