My first 22 years in aviation were spent as a maintenance technician of one sort or another. I’ve been an avionics tech, A&P, IA and director of maintenance (D.O.M.). I’ve spent a lot of time taxiing jets around various-sized airports, mostly GSO and CLT, so I felt pretty confident about my radio skills. Until I started flying.

I showed up for my first flying lesson in the mighty Aeronca Champ early in February 2017. When my instructor and I talked about communications, I proudly declared that I was already familiar with using a radio, and I felt pretty good about it. My instructor hand-propped the airplane, got in the back seat, and ran through the typical pre-taxi procedure. He said, “Go ahead and let CTAF know we’re taxiing to run-up for two-three.”

“Let who know?”

“CTAF. The common frequency.”

I wrote “common frequency” on my shiny new kneeboard and said, “We’re going where?”

“The run-up area for runway two-three.”

I wrote “run-up 23” beside “common frequency” on my kneeboard, looked confidently down at the instrument panel, up out of the windshield, then expertly said, “I don’t know how to do any of that.”

Over the next several months, I learned what to say on frequency, when to say it, and, most importantly, when to shut up and listen. When I took the check ride for my private pilot certificate, I was, again, pretty confident with my abilities on the radio. Until I started instrument training.

I studied for my instrument rating. A LOT. I listened to LiveATC. A LOT. I listened mostly to Daytona Beach tower and approach because that’s where Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is based, and there are always plenty of students stammering on the radio, just like I was. It was an invaluable resource, and I learned a lot. 

My instrument instructor used a great method of teaching radio independence. He was responsible for 100% of the radio communications at the beginning of my IFR journey. Gradually, and mostly undetected, I was handed more and more communication duties. He handed me the mic to request a practice approach here and an on-the-go report there. When it was time for my instrument check ride, I was handling the flying AND the talking.

As an aside, the two favorite quotes from my instructor, Ron, during instrument training are:

When I didn’t understand the approach clearance a controller issued to us: “You talk fine on the radio; you just need to listen faster.”

And:

A slight tap on my shoulder: “It’s a push-to-talk button, not a push-to-think button.”

Once I made it through my instrument training, I felt confident in my radio communications. Until I started my commercial training.

Well, that’s not completely accurate. The commercial rating is often seen as a time-building rating, after which you’re expected to understand laws, regulations and generally be capable of getting yourself around every chunk of airspace that the United States has to offer. This rating puts the “pro” in commercial. Or something like that.

My friend Joe and I started working as avionics technicians together back in 2001 at the GSO Citation Service Center and have remained close friends ever since. We began our flight training within a few days of each other, and we have a spirited attitude of competition between us.

As Joe and I were building time for our commercial ratings, we challenged ourselves by flying into congested airspace on some days and playing ATC on approaches while the other was under the hood on others. When we flew together, it was fair game at any time to call out engine failures, fires, commando attacks, etc. Neither of us cut the other any slack, and we had an absolute blast doing it.

I passed my commercial check ride, then, shortly after, I passed my commercial-multi check ride. 

I felt confident in my radio communications in single- and multi-engine airplanes at that point. Until my first leg in the right seat of a jet.

ATC talks differently to people in jets. When they talk to a piston single, most of the time they’ll mirror the speed of the pilot’s speech. I don’t know if it’s intentional, but it happens. The default cadence of ATC talking to a piston single is that of a concerned citizen helping the airplane cross a busy street. The default cadence of ATC talking to a jet is that of Niagara Falls helping you into the water. 

The patient gentleman, Matt, with whom I was flying my first day in a jet, walked me through how to get us out of a non-towered airport and on the way home with our passengers.

“Here’s the frequency for clearance delivery. If you can’t get them on the frequency, give them a call at this phone number. Tell them we want a hold-for-release clearance. They’ll give you the clearance just like they do at home, then we’ll call them when we’re ready to go.” 

On the leg home, I was caught off guard completely when the center controller gave me three (the maximum) instructions while we were still almost 200 nm from home. It went something like this:

“Citation 7EC, contact Atlanta Center, 132.35.”

I read back the instruction and went over to Atlanta. I wasn’t expecting anything more than a regular check-in.

“Atlanta, Citation 7EC, FL370.”

“Citation 7EC, descend and maintain FL240, published speeds at FLLGG, descend via the STOCR3 arrival landing south.”

I got as far as pressing the “direct” button on the FMS before forgetting every English word I’d ever learned. It must’ve been the blank stare on my dumb face that clued the PIC in to the fact that I was stuck in an endless loop of stuckness. He keyed up the mic and read back, “Descend and maintain FL240, published speeds at FLLGG, descend via the STOCR THREE landing south, 7EC.”

I’m not saying my instrument instructor didn’t prepare me for STARs (standard terminal arrival routes) because he did. The problem is that piston airplanes typically don’t fly arrivals, and it’s very difficult to teach someone how to fly an arrival without being able to demonstrate it properly. 

STARs for piston airplanes are usually not more than a heading and a fix, which works just fine, but the complexity of arrivals applicable to jets is something that is fairly difficult, if not impossible, to teach at 0′ AGL and 1g.

I apologized to the PIC for words not coming out of my face, and he graciously let me off the hook before showing me how to set the arrival up in the FMS. We landed uneventfully, and my first 1.8 hours of turbine time was complete. To quote Gary, my aviation hype-man, “I was so far behind the airplane that, after we took off, I looked back and saw myself walking out of the FBO.” 

 “My friend Joe and I started working as avionics technicians together back in 2001 at the GSO Citation Service Center and have remained close friends ever since. We began our flight training within a few days of each other, and we have a spirited attitude of competition between us.”

I’m a tactile learner, so, much like learning how STARs work, I can’t grasp a concept until I’ve been neck-deep in it. If I learn a lesson the hard way and it hurts, it tends to stick. The more it hurts, the better it sticks. 

After that first flight, I studied the STAR charts quite a bit more WHILE I was listening to LiveATC. Hearing the same thing over and over again said the same way is also very helpful to me.

I’ve flown about 250 hours in jets now, plus another 70 hours in level-D simulators, and I think I’m just starting to get to the point where I’m learning how to communicate on a professional level. I still get the occasional instruction with which I’m not familiar where my more experienced mentor has to help me a bit, but those cries for help are becoming fewer and further between. 

As I asked for advice from experienced pilots and controllers on how to do words good, the vast majority have said some version of, “If you ever get confused, flustered or overwhelmed by ATC, fess up. Quickly. The absolute worst-case scenario is that you’ll hear an irritation in the controller’s voice as they begrudgingly give you simpler instructions at a slower pace. Far more often, you’ll hear empathy in the controller’s voice as they happily give you simpler instructions at a slower pace.” 

“I’m a tactile learner, so, much like learning how STARs work, I can’t grasp a concept until I’ve been neck-deep in it. If I learn a lesson the hard way and it hurts, it tends to stick. The more it hurts, the better it sticks.”

We can’t always sound like Chuck Yeager on the radio, and we have to keep in mind that controllers didn’t start off sounding like Houston mission controllers, either. Sometimes it’s tough to remember that the sound coming out of the headset is just a person doing their best to keep airplanes from fusing together. 

As an experiment, one of these days, I’m going to check in with, “Center, good afternoon, Falcon 7EC, student pilot, FL410,” just to see if I get a reaction. Better yet, “Center, good afternoon, Falcon 7EC, maintenance, FL410.” That should get a rise. Or at least a pause.

The post New Pilot Ratings Mean New Radio Challenges appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Chris Thomas, by contrast, made it into his 20s before taking the plunge. Employed as a professional firefighter in Virginia Beach, he earned a VFR Commercial certificate, a stepping stone to the ATP certificate, and flew on the side, towing banners up and down the beach and saving his money to finish other flight training when the banner tugs were parked in the offseason. “I chose to make the leap when I was about 28. At that time, I was looking at the long-term challenge of an airline career, and I think that kind of sucked me in. I loved aviation, and it’s a job where, if you choose, you learn something new every day.” 

Now, Thomas’s day job is a check airman on the Embraer 190, a role he’s enjoyed for 21 years. When newly qualified pilots leave the simulator and step into the airplane, check airmen are the first captains they fly with and the final instructors of their training program. “I have had the opportunity to be with people on their first day of the rest of their career,” he says. “It is an opportunity to stay engaged, help, coach, mentor and instruct.” 

Like a siren’s song, the career beckons, rooted all the way back to childhood dreams and aspirations. Ask any airline pilot if it’s worth it, and the chances are the reply you get will be an emphatic, “Yes!”

“The top careers every kid wants to do are to become an astronaut or an athlete,” said Kit Darby, an industry analyst and consultant whose company studies hiring trends and the careers of pilots. “The third spot is almost always being a pilot.” Statistically, he said, the athlete and astronaut ideas aren’t a likely outcome except for a very talented few. While airline pilots are a tiny, tiny fragment of the overall population, there are a lot more aviators with epaulets on their shoulders than there are Olympians or professional athletes. 

A Hiring Frenzy

And with the world emerging in fits and starts from the coronavirus pandemic, the airlines are, much to the surprise of many, swinging into a full-on hiring frenzy. It takes a serious commitment of time and money—years and possibly more than $100,000—to reach the right seat of a passenger jet. It’s a big leap, but if you’ve ever wanted to become an airline pilot, the future is bright. But if you want to become an airline pilot, there’s one big ticket to earn—the Airline Transport Pilot certificate, and while it’s a daunting goal, this capstone ticket and the career it enables are attainable if you persevere.

It takes a serious commitment of time and money…but if you’ve ever wanted to become an airline pilot, the future is bright.

The Latest Swing In A Repeated Cycle

Airlines have swung between record losses and peak earnings for most of the industry’s history. The industry’s mandatory retirement at age 65 means that thousands of pilots are in the final years of their careers. Over the decades, a variety of factors have caused serious industry downturns—the oil crisis of the 1970s, the terrorist attacks of 2001 coupled with economic woes, and a spike in oil prices with a couple of other factors around 2009 being prime examples. Between these lows, the industry swelled with growth—and pilot hiring.

The COVID-19 pandemic took an industry from the peak of profitability and absolutely gutted it in a matter of weeks, as countries slammed their borders shut and passenger jets that hardly cooled off between flights began to gather dust. Once it became apparent that two weeks would not be the turnaround time that optimists had hoped for, many airliners wound up parked en masse at desert airports such as Pinal Airpark, Arizona, or Vacaville, California, with their landing gear and engines wrapped in plastic. Regional carriers ExpressJet, Trans States Airlines and Ravn Air ceased operations altogether in the pandemic. Furlough warnings went out to thousands of pilots at other carriers as business leaders and elected officials scrambled to keep the entire industry—a pillar of the American economy—from failing altogether. 

While the industry’s slump was dramatic, so was the support offered by the federal government via CARES Act funding that kept the industry alive. The act of Congress provided funding for about half the payroll at many carriers to get them through the rough spot. The government’s support was for a multitude of reasons—the industry is huge, and a collapse could have put hundreds of thousands of people out of work. Airlines are also vital to the military: As participants in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, they can help mobilize military troops and cargo when needed. The funds provided via CARES funding kept folks employed and also helped airlines maintain a hawkish position to leap into action as the recovery allowed. Worldwide, thousands of pilots were fired, furloughed or made redundant, and many airlines may have flown their final flight. Without funding from the CARES Act, Darby said, air carriers in America would have been in the exact same situation.

While the COVID-forced downturn was immediate and drastic, the rebound, at least for domestic air travel, is nearly as strong. With vaccinations on the rise and travelers sidelined for the last year and a half, airlines are seeing a strong uptick in travel. Airplanes were brought back from storage as quickly as possible, and training departments were overwhelmed by getting pilots current who hadn’t touched the controls in months. Those simulator bays and classrooms are now redirected to bringing new pilots on board; a trough between waves has seemingly passed. 

The bottom line is, it’s time to get moving if you’ve been contemplating a career aloft. 

What’s It TakeTo Earn An ATP?

The list of qualifications for the certificate is long and written by lawyers. That said, the basics are clear, so let’s take a look at what the requirements are in their basic terms. 

In addition to the ATP Certificate Program (which we’ll look at separately) and written exam, aviators seeking the ATP certificate must be age 23 or older, read, write and speak the English language, and be of good moral character. (As you might have guessed, no one has any real idea what that last part means). Flight experience requirements include 100 hours at night, 250 hours pilot-in-command, and 500 hours of cross-country flight. Because this cross-country time is required for certification, flights between airports must be 50 miles or more—you’ll want to make sure you’re not counting weekend hamburger runs across a few towns up toward this requirement. There’s also a requirement for 50 hours of instrument training time. 

In the last decade, the ATP has changed by the addition of a new R-ATP ticket. The Restricted Airline Transport Pilot certificate allows exemptions to age or total time requirements. Instead of a hard-and-fast requirement for 1,500 total hours, military pilots can cut the total time requirement in half to 750 hours; civilians who’ve graduated from aviation degree programs at approved schools can earn the rating at 1,000 hours if they hold a four-year degree or 1,250 hours with a two-year degree. The R-ATP has a minimum age requirement of 21 instead of 23. When R-ATP certificated pilots reach the age or experience requirements for a full ATP certificate, the pilot will simply present documentation that they’ve reached the age and/or experience requisites and have their certificate converted to a full ATP. 

An Accident Changed Training For The Career

Until 2013, airlines could hire first officers with a brand-new multi-engine commercial certificate and put them into the right seat of their jets once they completed training. Several regional airlines were hiring pilots with just over 200 hours. 

This changed because of Colgan Air Flight 3407’s crash while on approach to Buffalo, New York. These changes came unconventionally—instead of the FAA’s normal rulemaking process with periods of public comment to influence the decisions made, the families of crash victims marched on Capitol Hill, and Congress drafted a law requiring more robust qualifications for airline pilots. The law, signed Aug. 1, 2010, set a timeline into place that required all first officers at airlines to hold an ATP certificate by 2014, and it reshaped the path to an ATP certificate. Before, pilots could take the written (often after memorizing a gigantic bank of test questions and answers), meet the basic requirements, and go take an ATP check ride. The new regulation introduced the ATP Certificate Training Program, a completely new component to the certificate. The ATP-CTP is taught according to a rigorous syllabus, including a set number of hours in the classroom as well as four hours in a Fixed-Base Training Device and six hours in a full-motion simulator. The CTP, incidentally, is not required for single-engine ATP applicants. 

The CTP, as defined by the regs, is designed to cover the gap in knowledge between a freshly minted commercial pilot and a working airline pilot because once an airline pilot finishes training and has been on the line for a hundred hours or so, they’re treated the same as a pilot with thousands of hours and decades of experience. The FAA prescribes a set number of hours to be spent training on certain topics that really didn’t come up with old training methods. 

The subjects include the following: 

Aerodynamics

Students spend at least eight hours on the subject of aerodynamic principles as they apply to transport aircraft. Topics include high-altitude operations, encompassing the narrow margins between stall and overspeed encountered at cruising altitude. It’s not just additional busywork. The new approach gives students a chance to learn more about the topic than Mach Tuck being answer D on question 3194 or that Coffin Corner is more than the vampire section at a Halloween costume shop. Class time is expected to include kinetic and potential energy and the effects of bank angle on operating margins as well as characteristics of flying swept-wing aircraft, such as Dutch Roll. 

Stall recovery might seem simple to those who’ve done most of their stall training in aircraft with light wing loading and immediate power availability. In a small trainer, such as those built by light aircraft manufacturers Piper or Cessna, you could just release the back pressure on the controls, advance the throttle and fly away. In a jet at altitude, the power simply isn’t there, and an aggressive response to recover from a stalled state is required. Moreover, a secondary stall (that is, a stall following shortly after the initial one) is a serious threat, even for seasoned pilots. 

The FAA usually doesn’t take drastic action unless the ink is written in blood, and this section is especially applicable. In addition to the Colgan 3407 crash that triggered this action, Air France 447’s crew misinterpreted flight instruments on a dark night on a perfectly flying airplane and consequently crashed it into the sea. 

Unlike decades ago, when grizzled flight instructors poked an arthritic finger at the altimeter and emphasized preserving altitude in the recovery, the emphasis now is to recover using whatever altitude is needed without hitting the ground while keeping the airplane flying safely. This section also includes unusual attitude recovery, which is taught for both high and low altitude scenarios to cover the varying approaches to regain a safe flight path.

Meteorology

Requiring just two hours, this section is short but important, as airline pilots need to understand weather since the option to sit it out and wait for a nicer day is rarely used. Topics covered include windshear, turbulence and in-flight icing as well as on-ground de-icing and anti-icing procedures, low-visibility operation and landing on snow-covered runways potentially with poor braking action available. All are covered in what is necessarily a brief but intense bit of study.  

Air Carrier Operations

With 14 hours of classroom time allocated, this is the meat and potatoes of the course. Students study the daily routine of being an airline pilot, including such topics as recognizing fitness for duty, fatigue and hypoxia oxygen deprivation. There are also sections on flight deck communications and conducting effective briefings between pilots, flight attendants and passengers. The prescribed topics get into the weeds, covering subjects such as inoperative or missing equipment, avoiding taxiing onto a runway without clearance to do so and dealing with airport movement areas/ramp procedures. Among other topics, Crew Resource Management is taught as well as an overview of safety culture and voluntary safety programs. 

Once a pilot completes the CTP course, they can take the ATP written, which itself is a daunting challenge. Because the FAA no longer publishes its bank of questions for the written exams, the days of memorizing all the right answers are gone. That means you’re going to spend a good bit of time in study guides covering a wealth of knowledge before you sit down for the exam. 

If you’re looking to do the CTP on your own, sit down for this. You’re looking at about $4,000 out of pocket, and your only “flying” will be in the simulator. But if you’re looking to join the ranks at a regional airline, many of them have partnerships with flight schools where the airline picks up the tab. Some let you do the course in-house as a part of their training. You’ve just got to rack up the hours to be eligible first.

With a fresh ATP in your pocket and a new job title on your resume, life begins to change. You’ll be away from home all the time, often when things back at the ranch go wrong.

Ab Initio: Rhymes With “Zero To Hero”

Traditionally, pilots who hired on at airlines in America knocked out all the required ratings on their own dime before the company would even interview them. For years, Southwest Airlines even required a Boeing 737 type rating before you could start class at the company. (And many other carriers took note of applicants with a 737-type rating with zero hours in the airplane, figuring they’d be a gamble to hire knowing these candidates for the job would likely bail out the moment Southwest called with a job offer.) Some regionals made their pilots pay for their own type ratings at points when the supply of pilots far outstripped the jobs available. 

Several foreign carriers had ab initio training programs in place for decades—Lufthansa started training its pilots in Phoenix, Arizona, more than 30 years ago. The school, first operated by Pacific Southwest Airlines and purchased by Lufthansa in 1992, trains pilots from zero hours in a very regimented environment that is specifically tailored to train students for their position in the right seat of an airliner in Europe. Several Asian carriers had similar deals with American flight schools as well. 

But American students bound for American carriers were kind of on their own. Whether they did their training at a college, trained at a flight school, or rented at an FBO, they were expected to meet the requirements for the job before they applied. 

In April 2018, JetBlue became the first airline in America to put together a program like Lufthansa. The first students in its Gateway Select program earned their CFIs and started building time toward their ATP certificates. The program featured a structured flight-training phase for the students to earn their certificates, followed by a period where the student became instructor to build hours toward the ATP, a process that typically lasted about two years. The payoff was becoming first officers with the airline. 

Warren Christie, the airline’s head of safety, security and air operations, calls the program a success. “This milestone with the first class further proves our competency-based pathway works and provides a new path of entry for those who never saw commercial aviation as a career option.” 

Other airlines, facing similar challenges, took note. In recent years, Delta, United, American and Southwest all created similar programs. There are differences between each, of course, but the basic idea is the same. Candidates are screened based on varying factors at different companies but getting a first-class medical (required for ATPs) is usually a first step, along with basic testing to ensure candidates will be able to learn the material. Delta’s Propel program begins with flight training at a number of partner universities and colleges that have R-ATP programs. Some of the other airlines, such as Southwest’s Destination 225°, offer programs available to students who haven’t even attended college. 

As with JetBlue’s program, after earning their certificates and ratings, students then instruct or fly professionally with partner companies to get to applicable ATP minimums before joining the ranks of the sponsoring airline. These programs are very structured and offer a turn-key solution for launching one’s career. Students are left with very little to figure out on their own. You sign the agreement, put your money down, and fly what the company provides. 

Yes, there is that money thing. These solutions aren’t cheap. Southwest advertises that its cadet program is “less than $100K,” JetBlue’s Gateway Select is $107,000, and United’s Aviate program seems to be the bargain at $71,250. Its website advertises that it’s giving you the private certificate for free in that deal. Right.  

Scholarships are available to offset some of these costs, but at the end of the day, you’re going to be on the hook for a hefty student loan with any of these programs. 

It’s A Career And A Lifestyle

With a fresh ATP in your pocket and a new job title on your resume, life begins to change. You’ll be away from home all the time, often when things back at the ranch go wrong. But you’ll also see places you’ve never been, and Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” starts to feel more like an autobiography than an oldie. 

But as you gain seniority, you’ll enjoy more time off and a little more control over your schedule. Historically, regional pilots often needed side work, especially as first officers, but pay rates have climbed, and the need for outside work isn’t what it used to be. That said, interestingly, the free time that comes with the career and the personalities of airline pilots often conspire to seek out ways of staying busy. 

For example, Chris Thomas has two side jobs: He teaches Upset Prevention and Recovery training for Prevailance Aerospace, where his students come from a variety of backgrounds: corporate, collegiate and governmental. His other side job is the one you might recognize: He flies an antique military plane, North American SNJ number two, for the Geico Skytypers Air Show Team. “The airline career is a lifestyle, and everyone may not like it,” he said. “I have come to appreciate the flexibility of and low cost of non-rev travel, along with the schedule, usually 18 days off a month. Frankly, the time off and pay are what make my other two jobs possible.” 

Thomas adds, “Make sure that you have fun along the way. I see the colleges and universities selling a program to create a career, and I realize that none of those people ever got into an aircraft for the purpose of having fun. It was always in pursuit of a rating. Often, they are the most unhappy,” Thomas said. “Don’t let technology be the fun of aviation. Sure, you have to understand and utilize it. But I see lots of new pilots missing basic skills because they now climb into an RJ with 1,500 hours and are convinced that they have ’made it’ and that the learning is over. It never stops.”

Mike Laramee, an Airbus A320 first officer, echoed the importance of finding joy along the way, even though your career progression may meander away from the original plan.  “There are lots of rewarding paths to pilot happiness, and I have enjoyed aspects of all of my jobs. Being an airline pilot brings the most financial reward for the fewest days away from home. I would tell the new guys just starting out to enjoy each airplane and job, whether Aeronca or Airbus. Remember that part of being a professional is always trying to be the best you can be at your current job.”

That job, just about every airline pilot will tell you, is a challenging one, true, but one that carries with it rewards you won’t find anywhere else. 

The post Now Is The Time To Become An Airline Pilot appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

How would I answer the question above? Something like this: “The aircraft documents are in the aircraft, all the inspections are current, the inoperative equipment is properly documented, and the next maintenance action isn’t due for X hours. So, unless I find something during pre-flight, the airplane is airworthy, and I can make this flight safely.” 

Said in bullet-points:

• Documents
• Inspections
• Inoperative Equipment

I’m not a big fan of memorizing acronyms like AAVIATE or TOMATOFLAMES. It’s an exercise in rote memorization that focuses on the words, not their application. What’s the alternative? Just like in the aircraft, you can use a checklist to ensure you don’t miss anything. Yes, you can use checklists as a resource on the ground portion of the test, and since you’re being evaluated on resource management, I suggest you do. 

With that in mind, here are a few checklists you might consider to guide your decisions/discussions of airworthiness. I’ve added the references in case you need to look them up in the heat of the evaluation, and since all these come from 14 CFR, I’ve omitted that prefix for simplicity. 

I strongly recommend you complete these checklists the day before the test, so there are no surprises. I can’t count the number of tests I’ve given where the applicant has never looked at the maintenance logs and has no idea where to start.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the space available here to go into an extended discussion of each item, so if you don’t understand my notes, ask your CFI, and if they don’t know, ask your A&P, but be sure you can both explain airworthiness and apply that knowledge to scenarios given by the evaluator. The key to your success on this, and all aspects of the ground portion of the test, is to practice being evaluated. Please slow down and read that last sentence a few more times. 

Documents

(See chart above.)

Note 1. Know the difference between a Pilot’s Information Manual (PIM), Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) and Airplane Flight Manual (AFM), or, for helicopters, Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM)

Note 2. When there’s installed equipment that’s not made by the original aircraft manufacturer (OEM), these companies may provide a separate Pilot Guide that’s required to be carried in the aircraft; an aftermarket avionics product is a typical example

Inspections

(See chart above.)

Now, let’s focus on required inspections. I recommend you start with the last page of the latest logbook and work backward; if you don’t, the evaluator may think this is the first time you’ve ever looked at logbooks. It’s also a good idea to have the latest inspections tabbed for easy reference.

Note 1. Types of ADs

Not Applicable: Don’t apply to your particular aircraft

One time: Complied with and doesn’t require repetitive actions

Recurring: Entry must include the method of compliance and when the next inspection is due

Note 2. Annual: Must be signed off on by an A&P with Inspection Authorization (IA)

Note 3. Only required when carrying people or property for compensation/hire or when someone else provides the aircraft for flight instruction; must be signed off by an A&P

Note 4. Only required for IFR operations

Note 5. Required, with some exceptions, in A thru E airspace

Note 6. Check the maintenance logs; or, if it was used, check 91.207 to decide

Note 7. Only required for IFR operations

Note 8. Only needs to be current for IFR operations unless the OEM states otherwise

Flying With Inoperative Equipment

91.213

Now that we’ve covered the inspections, the real work begins: Deciding if you can fly with any equipment that may be inoperative. You must be able to apply your knowledge of airworthiness in a scenario given by the evaluator. Here are a few examples:

Q: When is the next airworthiness inspection due?

A: You need to examine the logbooks to determine if there are any recurring ADs for the aircraft. If there are, the logbook entry must document when the most recent inspection was done, how it was done, and when it is next due. Without those three elements, the AD is not correctly signed off. Many owners have a separate log sheet for ADs, so be sure that’s available for the test.

Q: During preflight, you notice the left fuel gauge is reading ½ full, but you verify that tank is actually full. Can you fly, and if so, what actions do you need to take?

A: Short answer is “no.” I know tribal knowledge says the gauge only needs to read accurately when it is empty. Not so. You will need maintenance action before you fly. This is a typical question, but the evaluator will vary the inoperative equipment. Instead of trying to memorize a list of equipment, I recommend you use the following checklists to determine if you are legal to fly. Ask yourself, is the equipment:

Required by an AD?

Required by the OEM? 

Check Type Certificate and any Supplemental Type Certificates 

Check Section 2 (Limitations) of the Flight Manual

Check Section 9 (Supplemental Equipment) for any limitations

Check Section 6 (Equipment); if the OEM has indicated it is “R” (Required), it probably is

Required by an Approved MEL/KOEL? 

Required by 91.205?

Required for the Planned Flight?

Note 1. An approved MEL/KOEL may allow you to fly with equipment that is otherwise required by 91.205.

If the answer to any of the questions above was YES, you can’t fly until maintenance action is taken or you obtain a Special Flight Permit. If the answer to all the questions above was NO, then proceed with the next checklist. 

Was/is the inoperative equipment:

Removed and the weight and balance amended? 

Made inoperative?

For electrical equipment, that means the power source removed

Placarded as inoperative?

Entry made in the aircraft logbooks?

If the answer to all these questions was YES, then it’s up to the Pilot-In-Commands whether they choose to fly. 

One bit of advice: If you aren’t sure the aircraft is airworthy, don’t fly. I’ve never issued a Notice of Disapproval to an applicant who made a conservative decision. Hopefully using and understanding these checklists will help you ace the airworthiness portion of your practical test—it sure beats crickets. 

Check Ride Tunnel Vision

Airline-Style Checklist Flows For Private Pilots

The post Why Airworthiness Is The Biggest Check Ride Problem appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

CFIs come in a number of varieties. Many become CFIs to build needed hours for their next flying job, and often those follow-on flying jobs are dictated by airline hiring. If the major airlines are hiring, they draw from regional carriers, and those companies hire, in turn, from the general pilot population. The number of flight hours you need varies with different carriers and is significantly influenced by the number of seats that carrier needs to fill.

I can remember an era when you needed 3,000 flight hours, an ATP certificate and a type rating to even submit an application to a major airline. If you made it through the interview, you would be subjected to a physical exam by its company doctor that would rival one a NASA astronaut endures. I can also remember when you could apply with some regional carriers if you had 300 hours and a commercial pilot certificate and could fog a mirror.

Then, as now, the place new commercial pilots start building those hours is flight instruction. This means that for many pilots, flight instruction is an entry-level job. These folks are building hours on your dollar and may not have developed the skills they need to be good at the job.

In short, go into this with your eyes open. Some flight instructors are dedicated to doing a great job, which means getting you ready to succeed at your flight test. Some are phoning it in.

Since you may not know how to evaluate whether the person you are going to be spending a lot of time and money with is going to help you achieve your flying goals, here’s a checklist of things to consider.

So maybe it’s time to have a sober-eyed look at your CFI’s performance and have a talk with them to get some important details you won’t learn about otherwise. Make it an interview, asking them the following questions, each of which will help you decide whether to go forward with them or look elsewhere.

That said, here are the yardsticks by which to measure your current or prospective CFI’s performance and/or potential, as well as some questions to ask them before making this important decision.

Expect straightforward answers

Remember, your CFI may be new to the game, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a good instructor. So, don’t expect perfection, but do expect them to be in a position to help you achieve your goal—getting that ticket. 

But one word of advice before that. Don’t sign up for ground school or expect your CFI to prepare you for the FAA Knowledge Test. Not many CFIs are gifted presenters, nor do they have the resources to develop the extraordinary presentation materials commercial providers can. These providers offer spectacular products that allow you to study at home for a cost far less than you would spend in traditional ground school. 

They also provide sample test questions that are surprisingly similar to those you will see on the actual FAA Knowledge Test—just sayin’. Also, I highly recommend you complete the Knowledge Test before you ever start to fly. Attempting to do both simultaneously can be daunting, if not overwhelming. The FAA Knowledge Test is still largely short-term rote memorization. You’ve been honing this test-taking skill during your entire secondary school education and should be fairly good at it. After you pass the Knowledge Test, you have 24 months to finish your rating, so you have no reason to wait. Get it done! 

Also, you should fully expect your CFI to develop your knowledge by using scenarios. 

You will use the information you learned on the Knowledge Test, but in a very different way. Forget rote; to pass the ground portion of the FAA Practical Test, you’ll need to be able to apply that knowledge in scenarios developed by the evaluator. The skills required to recall information, apply it to a given scenario, and make a convincing oral argument may not currently be in your repertoire. 

Unless you’re a practiced debater, these skills need to be developed; the only way you can do that is for your CFI to evaluate your knowledge using your scenarios. This level of ground training takes time, and even if your CFI is getting paid for ground time, the time spent with you on the ground does not put hours in their logbook!see the problem? The business model puts your goals and your CFI’s on different paths, so many CFIs don’t like to do in-depth ground training. I get it, but if your CFI can’t find the hours needed to sit down with you and evaluate your application of knowledge, fire them.

Expect your CFI to spend time introducing tasks in a simulator. 

Modern simulators allow you to practice tasks and get feedback from the device on how well you performed, all at a fraction of the cost of doing so in the airplane. They also have the added benefit of being able to stop the airplane in flight, reset and try again. I’m partial to the Redbird FMX full-motion flight simulators, but if your school does not have one, Redbird makes desktop units that will mimic the flight characteristics of the airplane you’re flying, provide a guided discussion of the task, and score your performance!all for less than $3,000. 

Weigh the cost of purchasing one of these for your Private and Instrument training against the hours you will spend in the airplane mastering the same tasks. For example, a school in Texas used Redbird simulators as an integrated part of its Private Pilot course and was consistently graduating pilots with 35 hours in the airplane and about 25 hours in the simulator, with a 96% first-time pass rate. Compare that to the cost of an average time of 70 to 80 hours in the airplane. If the simulators in your flight school don’t have these features, expect your CFI to spend the ground time needed until you have a firm grasp on the task before you try it in the air. 

Expect to do most of the flying. 

If your CFI has properly introduced the tasks on the ground, and you have practiced on the simulator, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to take the controls and give it a try. Your CFI should be able to coach you through the task, from taxi to landing. If you haven’t practiced in a simulator, your learning will naturally take substantially longer, and you expect more demonstrations from your CFI.

“Many CFI candidates I test never instruct me on how to do a task; they just tell me what I did wrong.”

Expect your CFI to spend most of the time in the airplane explaining how. 

There are three simple steps to effective flight instruction: what, why and how. The what and why should be covered in the ground training; it makes no sense to get in the airplane to introduce a task if you don’t already know what you are trying to do and why you are doing it. 

The majority of the instruction you get in the air should be how to do the task. Many CFI candidates I test never instruct me on how to do a task; they just tell me what I did wrong. “You were high on final,” “you need to stay on centerline when you taxi,” “you touched down too hard,” and the list goes on. Okay, I could just put a camera in the airplane and see that. How do I fix it? If your CFI isn’t explaining to you, not showing you, how to do the task, they don’t yet understand the learning process, and you are wasting a lot of time and money. Fire them.

Expect your instructor to treat you as a valued customer. 

In my opinion, the most important aspect of your training will be based on the relationship you have with your CFI. If your CFI isn’t treating you with the time, energy and respect due you as a valued customer, one who is funding their flight hours, fire them immediately. After all, it’s your money. 

Don’t misunderstand—good instructors, as well as bad, come in all ages and experience levels, and any worth your money will have no problems having an honest discussion of these topics. 

A Pilot Reflects On The World’s Best Flight Instructor

A Student Pilot Gets A Surprise On A Pre-Solo Flight (Members Only)

The post How To Find A Good Flight Instructor (Or Break Up With A Bad One) appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

If you haven’t been flying enough over the past year and change, you are not alone. But if, like so many other pilots, you’re aching to get in some quality time and become a more capable and confident pilot, there are numerous ways to do that. But in terms of improving your flying chops and cutting your risk dramatically, there’s nothing that comes close to adding the instrument rating. 

Before you get started, though, a great first step toward getting back into the swing is with a flight review. If you’re current, then you might want to shake off the dust a little before you dive into hood time. Check out our Rusty Pilot Practice Plan as a great way to get your stick and rudder mojo back. 

Back when my logbook was still pretty thin, my boss at the time told me that he not only encouraged but expected me to get an instrument rating. He told me that on my first day on the job—and he was right. There’s no rating that comes close to offering you the benefits of an instrument rating because it lets you fly more often and fly with less risk.

Fly More Often: I’m not sure which reason is more important than the other. Again, it really depends on you and your usual flying mission profile. But if you’re a pilot who uses aviation for personal transportation, whether you rent or own your plane, an instrument rating is the ticket, as they say, as it gives you the power to fly more.

Here’s a scenario. You get to the airport, and those low clouds that were forecast to burn off, haven’t. Let’s say it’s a thin layer of broken-to-overcast at 300 feet or so. Here’s the VFR answer to that problem: You sit on the ground. The IFR answer? You go flying. In many cases, it’s that black-and-white. What might this look like in real life? You file a flight plan with the FAA, which you can do from your phone or tablet in a matter of minutes, get your clearance before you take off, and after a great pre-takeoff check, you’re on your way. On takeoff, you fly as you normally would but soon after you rotate, you transition to flying by sole reference to the instruments. At, let’s say, 700 feet AGL you pop out of the clouds and are greeted by an amazing sunrise that earthlings and non-IFR rated pilots will only know about through your Facebook account.

But the reliability of the departure is probably only part of it. You’ll most often be glad for that instrument rating when you’re en route and you encounter unforecast or different-than-forecast weather conditions. Depending on the weather, you can either fly right through those clouds—knowing weather is a big part of instrument flying knowledge—or you can divert around them or even go land somewhere if need be, even if it means flying an instrument approach to that diversion airport.

Being able to fly an instrument approach at any one of hundreds of airports along your route of flight is also priceless. On a trip back home to Central Texas from Florida a few years ago, I was battling non-stop storms from North Florida west, but made it to Louisiana, where I’d planned to stop for fuel anyways.

My original destination, New Orleans Lakefront, was below minimums, but there were good options a little farther west. I wound up choosing Hammond, Louisiana, as a nasty front grew closer. The weather at Hammond wasn’t bad, though it was IFR, and I flew the RNAV approach to the south, breaking out at well above minimums—around 400 agl if I recall.

I taxied to the FBO and tied down the plane as the rain began, and the line guy topped off the Cirrus. Fifteen minutes later, I was a few hundred bucks poorer, but the storm had moved through and the skies were blue. It was windier than all get out, but before you knew it, I was back in the air and looking at a nonstop trip back home. I didn’t even mind the headwinds!well, at least I didn’t complain too loudly about them.

Greater Safety Margins: There were two big things that gave me pause before I got my IFR ticket. I was concerned about all the details of it! And to some extent, those concerns were justified. Instrument flying is a complex subject. But all of it makes sense, and there are better options than ever before to learn in ways that, dare I say it, almost make it fun.

My other fear was that flying IFR would introduce new risk into my missions because I’d be flying with greatly reduced margins. This is a common fear. One imagines that because you’re flying in conditions that are often far worse than you’d tackle if you were VFR, then you must be at greater risk. Right? One also might imagine that flying on the gauges is so difficult that any little screw-up will kill you.

Both assumptions are wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. Having the ability to go on to the gauges in a heartbeat (literally so) if you encounter any uncertainties is, here’s that word again, a priceless skill. With loss of control because of inadvertent flight while VFR into instrument conditions being one of the leading causes of fatal accidents, the obvious solution is to be able to continue safely flying under control even if you do encounter those conditions.

And the truth is, flying by sole reference to the gauges is easy, once you get good at it, that is. Juggling paper charts, figuring out where you’re based on needles that you need to set and interpret properly based on arcane craftwork. I struggled with all of it in training and only got really proficient with much practice after I had earned the rating.

In today’s high-tech world, everything is so much easier. The major obstacles to safely conducting an IFR flight are largely gone. With panel-mounted or tablet- displayed moving maps and flight plans, excellent lower-cost autopilots and great weather in the cockpit, most of the things that bedeviled my training are orders of magnitude easier to deal with.

If you’re looking to get started on that rating, great options abound, including several for in-home study. Sporty’s has a great new Instrument Rating Course that we recently reviewed that you can access on your phone, tablet, desktop computer or, even your TV. And materials available from ASA and Aircraft Spruce, among many others, offer a variety of multimedia and old-fashioned paper options.

For me, my dog-eared and heavily highlighted copy of William Kershner’s Instrument Flight Manuals is one of my fondest possessions. And it still contains a lot of wisdom. Leafing through it just now reminded me how important it is to stay proficient. So even if you’re already got your IFR ticket, now’s the ideal time to sharpen those skills.

The post Get Your Instrument Rating. Why The IFR Ticket Is The Best Option For That Next Rating appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

With the launch of its 2020 video courses for new pilots and for those seeking an instrument rating, Sporty’s has answered the question we’ve asked ourselves so many times before: What more could they possibly do to make these courses better? The answer, once again is, “Plenty.” The courses sell for $249 each, and while that might sound like a lot, there’s a lot of value here. You can access the courses regardless of what device you’re on—if you’re like us, you’ll use three or four different devices on any given day—and each one syncs your progress. If you were halfway through a video on your desktop, you’ll be halfway through on your iPhone, as well.

One thing we love about these courses is that you get the latest updates to the regs and new content to address new technologies, like glass cockpits, iPads, new mobile weather products and even ADS-B, none of which existed in our world even 15 years ago. With old media, updates were usually painful though infrequent. Today, Sporty’s can update content on the fly if, for instance, a new regulation comes into being. Try that with a VHS tape.

And they’ve made the courses work for pilots like never before, too, recognizing the importance of test prep today, when the FAA’s questions aren’t really known. The courses’ new test prep utility allows you to tailor your test-taking needs by making it easy to, again, work across platforms without losing your place, or your progress, and to create your own customized quizzes based on questions you have trouble with (for some of us, that’s all of them!) or even ones that you’ve marked as being confusing. It will even remember which ones you’ve missed for later review, even figuring out for you which weaker areas you might need to hit the digital books on.

We also love the checkride prep utility, which gives you practice for the oral, which is often the toughest part of an FAA exam.

And you can now watch the courses on Sporty’s Roku channel or via Chromecast for that big screen experience.

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more delivered straight to you!

Other new features include customizable flashcards, downloadable video review notes for digging deeper into turns around a point or understanding the difference between short- and soft-field takeoffs.

There’s even a checklist to be sure you bring everything with you that you need to take your checkride, which could save you both embarrassment and money.

One feature that’s worthy of note is that Sporty’s courses are lifetime purchases, so if you get the instrument course this year and in five-years you want to brush up, you still own the course, and not the one you purchased way back when but the latest and greatest without spending an additional penny.

For more on the new courses, visit sportys.com.

The post New Features In Sporty‘s Learn to Fly, Instrument Courses appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

I recently went through a couple of the company’s new offerings—its ForeFlight training guide and its Instrument Pilot course—and came away impressed by the work. I’ve been an instrument pilot for a while now, but I still appreciated the refresher, and I’ll admit that there were more than few points I was fuzzy about before the review.

Likewise with the ForeFlight course. I use this app on a regular basis, but after going through Sporty’s how-to course, I learned about a few nooks and crannies I’d been unaware of before, and I learned how to do familiar things faster and easier. Again, both courses seem like great avenues for pilots new to the subject and for those, like me, in need of a refresher.

But Sporty’s overhaul wasn’t a course-by-course effort. It dug into the bone of the products and did something that will make every customer happier and make the learning that much more effective and efficient. Here’s how.

If you’re like me, and most pilots clearly are, you have more than one gadget that you use to go online or to make a voice call or to watch video content or to send instant messages or to check the weather or!you get the idea. And depending on where you are or what else you’re doing, one of those gadgets might be more convenient than the next. With most products, that means figuring where you left off on the last device, navigating to that section and then starting over again. And that leaves off the complications of your progress, not to mention your quiz scores.

Sporty’s has your back, though. The new courses sync it all together, so you can do your studying with an iPad or iPhone, or even the latest-gen Apple TV (which I do not yet have but plan to get soon), and it automatically syncs across whatever devices you’re working on, so when you pick up the iPhone instead of the iPad, it knows right where you are and where you’ve been.

The new app—available in the Apple App Store—has all the same features on your iPhone or your iPad, and it allows you to download videos for offline use. I downloaded a few just to check it out, but I’d prefer to stream them when I’m in wifi coverage to avoid filling up the storage on my iPhone (which is already loaded with airplane photos and videos to begin with).

To get started, go to the Apple App Store and download Sporty’s Pilot Training (the download is free). From there you can get the Instrument Rating Course ($199), the Learn to Fly Course ($199) and the Flying with ForeFlight course ($29).

Learn more at Sporty’s Pilot Shop.

The post Sporty‘s New Flight Training Apps Will Sync You Up appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

GIFT—a series of smart scenarios designed by Redbird to be flown in its simulators—acts almost as a second flight instructor, albeit one that exists somewhere between the internet and the sim software. It has the ability to grade a student’s performance and provide a certain level of review and feedback.

I recently had a chance to run through a few of Redbird’s GIFT training modules. Going into the demo, I was of two minds: either it would be a glorified version of a flight sim computer game or it would be a step too close to removing actual people from the teaching aspect of flight training. The former would be largely useless, the latter deeply unsettling.

I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

Flying GIFT

When I met with Redbird’s VP of Marketing, Josh Harnagel, for the demo, we were in a Redbird FMX simulator. For those who haven’t run into them, the FMX is an all-electric, three-axis, FAA-certified AATD. It can be plugged into a wall outlet and has interchangeable yokes and panels so it can be set for a variety of single- and multi-engine aircraft (glass or analog). For testing out GIFT, the FMX was configured as an analog 172. At the moment, GIFT is only available for the 172 (both glass and analog), but there are plans to add more aircraft types.

After Josh gave me my USB key, we set up an account. It was quick—I just had to enter my name, email address and license number, and create a PIN. Once that was done, I had access to all of the GIFT private pilot lessons.

The private pilot program currently boasts around 32 modules. Each module addresses a flight-training mission—generally, a maneuver or transition. We started with the Normal Takeoff module. I sat down in the sim and inserted my USB key, which unlocked the GIFT modules on the FMX. The USB also acts as a backup, recording scores in case there’s a problem with the simulator’s internet connection. Then it was just a matter of plugging my PIN into the website on Josh’s iPad and hitting the start command.

The module began with a short video describing the procedure and goals of the maneuver. The videos can be watched at anytime, so they can be reviewed as many times before and after the lesson as the student wants. After the video, we started the scenario.

For the normal takeoff, GIFT talked me through applying power and set up a target line on climb-out for me to try to follow. For the Short Field Takeoff module I did later, the target line had been removed, though GIFT still tracked my ability to maintain centerline on departure. GIFT does provide guidance if you deviate significantly, prompting you to correct things like being too far left or right of runway centerline, too slow, etc.

Once the maneuver was complete, my flight review popped up under the Normal Landing module in my account on the website. GIFT tracks relevant data for the entire flight and compares it to standards based on the FAA PTS. For my normal takeoff, I was graded on airspeed and distance from centerline, but GIFT has no trouble simultaneously measuring everything from rate of turn, altitude changes, rate of climb and so on.

When I opened the Normal Landing module, an option to debrief my last attempt was available. From there, I could review my performance numbers throughout the maneuver. The debriefs are primarily graphical, allowing the student to see comparisons of the tracked data.

How Does It Work?

GIFT is designed to be as technique-neutral as possible. It’s based on the idea that there’s no one right way to fly a maneuver well (though there are wrong ones, and GIFT will call you out if you think a good landing means dragging it in 10 feet off the deck even if you do touch down in the right spot). It leaves it up to the instructor and flight school to teach the technique. GIFT just tracks the results with an eye on the PTS.

The scoring is geared toward realistic flight expectations. Most maneuvers have non-scored windows to allow the pilot to establish a correct flight attitude. For example, you might get the first 20 degrees of heading change in a turn to stabilize before deviations count against you. For the Normal Landing and Normal Turn modules, there were gates to fly through. For those modules, they appeared as green brackets in the sky. For some modules, the gates are invisible, though passing through them at the right time and in the right configuration counts.

The modules are made to be used in a logical but flexible way. They don’t have to be completed in a particular order. However, the Short Field Takeoff module does assume you’ve had some experience with normal takeoffs.

Josh described GIFT as working like a spell checker. It catches the errors, but doesn’t create the content or make decisions about it. It’s a training tool designed to work in concert with an instructor, not without one. GIFT’s job is to do what computers do best: keep track of and compare multiple data streams. It doesn’t teach aeronautical decision making. Instead, it observes the flight, keeping a constant eye on things that are more difficult—or even impossible—for a human instructor to watch.

How Much, And Where?

$249 will get you your own GIFT license. Purchase comes with a USB key and a license number that will go with you anywhere. You don’t have to always use the same simulator or fly at the same flight school. Licenses can be purchased at Redbird or through participating flight schools and sales partners.

GIFT is currently available on Redbird’s FMX, MCX, MX2, SD and LD models. GIFT does need to be installed on a particular simulator before it’s available. The installation is an automated process as long as the sim is connected to the internet, so it should be readily available for compatible units. As long as a sim has GIFT installed, you can just hop in, plug in your key and PIN, and you’re good to go.

What’s Next?

GIFT officially launched on July 24, and there are already a lot of big plans for this little program. At the moment, GIFT is available for private pilot training only. Instrument, commercial and multi-engine training all look to be in its not-too-distant future. Redbird is also planning on making it available on its TD/TD2 and Jay models.

More modules likely will be added to the private pilot course, including missions like cross-country flying. As mentioned before, Redbird also will be expanding the types of aircraft GIFT training is available for. Once other aircraft types are added, GIFT will automatically switch to whichever aircraft the simulator is set up as.

The part I’m waiting for is the bit where GIFT learns from the student. Though it doesn’t yet, eventually GIFT should be able to identify an individual student’s patterns and issue early corrections or reminders, making it an adaptive teaching tool. There also was some mention of looking into developing a cockpit version one day.

Review

So how did it actually feel to have a virtual instructor leaning over my shoulder with an eye on all of my gauges? I loved it. GIFT provided exactly the kind of data I could see using to perfect my maneuvers and diagnose flaws in my technique.

Overall, I found it to be an excellent balance of automation and human-driven learning. It will give students the ability to practice on their own and receive constructive, objective feedback that they can review immediately and with their instructors later. If it works like it demoed, it should be a great tool for improving student readiness while freeing up instructors to work on the more complicated stuff like teaching new pilots when it’s safe to go flying.

Learn more about GIFT at Redbird.

The post Redbird GIFT appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Everything You Need To Pass Your FAA Tests And Prepare For The Cockpit In One Popular New App

MySkyForce is a complete private pilot training course and lifetime reference source all in one easy-to-use app for your mobile device. Make the most of your training time in the cockpit by being really prepared before you fly with your instructor. You will save time and money, and he will be impressed.

MySkyForce will get you ready to pass all your certification tests.  And it will make your study easier, faster and more engaging.

This is the most in-depth and comprehensive aviation training product ever designed from the ground up as a media rich app. It should be on your phone or tablet before you begin any Private Pilot ground school or flight training program. Learn faster. Remember more.

• Easy Navigation
• Self-Tests
• Subject index for one tap access to content

Learn Better Without The Hassle

Load once and start learning. What could be easier?  Since it’s an app, no internet connection is needed after the initial download. Updates will be pushed out as needed to make sure you are learning from the latest information. Study anywhere, anytime at your own pace.

MySkyForce will hold your attention from the first screen. And the building block approach will uncomplicate even the most complex subjects.

Our Chief Instructor Has A Long Record Of Success In Creating Career Pilots

He has over 7,000 hours flying with students. And over 250 of those students, who had never flown before, are now airline pilots. He understands what it takes to become a great pilot. He shares tips, insights and experiences in his conversational and entertaining style as he takes you through the material. These easy-to-understand lessons will fly with you forever.

The Content

It’s all here: how to get started on your training, controlling flight, navigation, and even a lesson that will have you reading METARS with ease. You will find lessons on radio communication procedures, understanding aeronautical charts and airspace, aviation weather, flight safety, decision making and more.  Plus, you’ll get something other leading sources don’t offer, instructions on how to actually fly the plane. Our pilot will even take you through the techniques of flying the maneuvers the FAA will require you to demonstrate before being certified.

MySkyForce includes over 1,200 new animations, graphics and photos that you can study at your own pace. There are self-tests at the end of each lesson with explanations; and a subject index at the end of each lesson gives you one-tap access to the content you want to review.

Visit our website: MySkyForce.com

Questions? Contact us through our website.

The post MySkyForce appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.