Can we all agree on one thing? All of us want to save money in flight training. Getting the job done, and making it easier on yourself in the process will save you time and money in the long run. This isn’t an episode about saving money for training. We’re going to talk about a few common things that both students and instructors expect of each other. Agreeing on these 4 things will help you both set realistic expectations for your training, and will likely even put you on a faster track to success.

The last few months we’ve all been navigating uncharted waters during the pandemic shutdown. A few pilots and instructors have continued to fly with precautions, but the vast majority have grounded themselves and their flight schools since mid-March. Now that risk-avoidance is going into a risk-management phase as we’re getting back into the cockpit. We’ll share some best practices for getting back into flying whether you’ve been shutdown a few months or a rusty pilot who hasn’t flown in a few yea

John Alpine and his family were spending their usual winter break on Maui when the Covid-19 shutdown went into effect. John decided it would be a good time to renovate and deep clean his condo that’s typically rented out to excited visitors. We asked John to share his thoughts about Maui slowly transitioning into opening back up to visitors. John also shares some of the things he’s learned through the shutdown, including soloing an airplane for the first time!

On April 29 the FAA issued a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) that provides relief to pilots who will want to get back into flying after the coronavirus shutdown. Many flight schools across the country remain closed or operating with limited training, and checkrides have nearly come to a standstill. This SFAR allows some extensions to help support general aviation pilots and instructors who could potentially be economically impacted by a shutdown that was beyond their control.

On today’s episode, we’re going to dive deeper into how we are trying to challenge ourselves to become safer pilots through decision making and risk management. We’re also taking an honest look at some of our bad habits that we tend to explain away until they become normal operations. Not a good thing!

ForeFlight is an aviation app for pilots and one of the most popular electronic flight bags available on the market. ForeFlight combines multiple resources for pilots with an easy user interface. With a few clicks you can access aeronautical charts, approach plates, airport information, weather, and file your flight plan. This episode is a recorded Zoom call between several local Maui pilots.

A large percentage of Americans are now under shelter at home/work at home mandates. Over the last month it’s brought discussion and confusion over what is legal for us as pilots in regards to dual instruction, solo flights, or making the decision to not fly altogether. It’s a hard time for many of us, but we can use this as an opportunity to evaluate and pivot your mindset. Make the most of this forced time at home to make yourself a better, smarter and safer pilot.

This is the final episode in our Commercial Checkride series. After the written test, checkride prep, and oral exam… now it’s time to have some fun and fly. We’ll share about our flights with two different examiners and stories of success and failure.  If you have a checkride in your near future, we hope you take away some great advice and tips.

The checkride begins! Let’s dig into the oral exam portion of the checkride. Were we prepared? Did it turn out like we expected? Most importantly, we’ll talk at length about the positives & what we actually enjoyed about the oral exam. If you have a checkride in your near future, we hope you take away some great advice and tips.

The final stages of preparing for a checkride usually involves three parts: studying for the oral exam, practicing for the flight portion, and organizing everything you need to have with you for the big day. Instructors are a necessity when prepping you for the oral exam and flight, but many fall short in adequately coaching us through the organization piece. Luckily for us and our recent commercial checkrides, we utilized a fresh-to-the-industry product that took the stress off of the organization.