When I administer checkrides to pilot applicants, I always wait to hear them talk about one very important piece of information: the Departure Briefing. This is usually done after the engine runup, and right before taking off. The departure briefing is a plan of action to be taken if your aircraft experiences an engine failure (or other abnormality), while still low to the ground. Most applicants I fly with will rattle off this briefing at the appropriate time, but some have to be reminded. Let this be a reminder to all pilots to...

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Some things only have to happen once for you to remember every vivid detail, even if it was years ago.  September 11, 2001.  My guess is we all know where we were, what we were doing and who told us to find a television and watch.  We remember the World Trade Center buildings falling as if it happened yesterday.  For the first time in my lifetime, a battle was being waged on American soil. 

Firsts stand out in my mind.  The first time I was allowed to...

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Sporty’s Academy Flight Training Center attracts a wide variety of students interested in learning to fly. Many come for recreational purposes and just want to fly for fun. Others want to take up aviation as a career, and enroll in our professional pilot program. Some students prefer to take lessons at a leisurely pace, while others make the most of our fast-track programs and earn their pilot certificate in as little as a few weeks.

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Now that the winter season is here, many students become discouraged due to weather affecting more of their scheduled flights than usual.  For those of us who have been flying for many years, we have seen the winter seasons come and go, and understand what the winter has to offer in terms of flying weather.  Each season has its fair share of weather that affects students during their flight training, but...

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