By Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot We see many students come through our doors each year to earn their private pilot certificates. The majority of these students continue on to earn their instrument rating. However, when we speak with people who received their private pilot certificates years ago or from other schools, the story is […]

By Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot My aviation career started in the ’80s. This was before the smartphone and iPad era. We were fortunate enough to have a flight service station at our airport. Most of the time, rather than calling the FSS, we visited the office. The briefer would print out the weather charts […]

By: Mike Bliss Every discipline has its own unique set of terms, whether they are slang, acronyms, or phrases. Aviation is no different. There are even subsets of the aviation language. For example, each military branch has its own terms and some have even migrated to general aviation. For example, using the term, “no joy” […]

By: Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot It does not take long during primary flight training to realize that a pilot needs to adapt their mindset when flying into different airports. Controlled and uncontrolled airports are typically the primary difference. But each of those can be further divided into “busy” and “not busy.” So how does […]

By: Steven Daun, National Chief Pilot Winter is here and with it comes significant variation in the weather. It is important to note that when we discuss “winter weather” we are not just speaking about it being cold outside. Winter weather encompasses many different topics. For this article, we are going to focus on temperature. […]

BY STEVEN DAUN, NATIONAL CHIEF PILOT Perhaps the most basic question a pilot can ask is: “How do I control an airplane and make it do what I want it to do?” The answer to this question involves a fundamental principle that underlies just about everything a pilot will do, from flying aerobatics to a […]

BY STEVEN DAUN, NATIONAL CHIEF PILOT Webster’s Dictionary defines confidence as: “belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance.” If you ask any pilot if they are confident, the vast majority would say yes. Each year, we see many pilots with experience ranging from a day-one Private Pilot student to a 25,000 […]