John Zimmerman

The first big aviation event of the year is about to kick off, and Sporty's will be there in a big way. The annual Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo, which takes place in sunny Lakeland, Florida (LAL), runs from April 1 - April 6 this year. Stop by Sporty's big tent - just outside Hangar A on the main ramp - for new products, interactive demos, product experts, and much more.

After building a billion-dollar music business, Chuck Surack is applying the lessons he learned to save an aviation icon. He talks about his passion for flying helicopters, why he decided to buy Enstrom, and the challenge of restarting production. Chuck also offers plenty of tips for growing a business and creating a culture of excellence, with some peeks behind the scenes at Sweetwater. In the Ready to Copy segment, Chuck shares his favorite place to land a helicopter, what he looks for when hiring an employee, and what it was like to work with Stevie Wonder.

The original Zulu headset sparked a wave of innovation in aviation headsets when it was introduced a decade ago, and established Lightspeed as a major player in the premium headset market. Active noise reduction (ANR) headsets were not new at the time, but never before had they been available with so many features at such an attractive price. A lot has changed since then, but Lightspeed is not one to rest on their laurels. They recently released the latest generation, Zulu 3, and as always we went flying to see how it performed.

Whether it’s an open cockpit biplane or a brand new Cirrus, Shane Vande Voort says “good stick and rudder skills carry through into every airplane.” He explains why the Cirrus accident record has improved so much, how to teach modern avionics to new pilots, and why systems knowledge still matters. Shane also loves flying with family, so he talks about going up in an open cockpit biplane with his kids and taking a memorable flight to Kitty Hawk with his father in a Cessna 120. In the Ready to Copy segment, Shane shares his advice for taking checkrides, how taildragger flying helps jet pilots, and whether shock cooling is a myth.

Whether you fly low and slow or high and fast, SiriusXM Aviation Weather gives you the weather info you need, so you have confidence about what’s ahead to make the best decisions—from takeoff to landing, coast-to-coast. Right now you can take advantage of a limited time $400 reward and a 3-month free trial from SiriusXM.

Few pilots have lived as interesting a life as Martha Lunken: from giving checkrides in DC-3s to teaching Neil Armstrong’s wife to fly, she has met some of aviation’s most colorful characters and flown some of aviation’s most iconic machines. She tells plenty of those fascinating stories in this episode—and shares some controversial opinions along the way. In the Ready to Copy section, Martha talks about what she would do as FAA administrator, flying the Lockheed Lodestar, and life as an accident investigator.

Over 40% of active student pilots are under age 30 and Clay Simmons is one of them (he even built a Carbon Cub at age 22). He explains the unique expectations this new generation of pilots has, how the GA industry can be more successful in reaching out, and why mentors are so important. Clay is also an active backcountry pilot, so he shares advice for pilots who want to fly taildraggers and explore off-airport destinations. In the Ready to Copy segment, Clay talks about homebuilding tips, campfire cooking, and great architecture.

Not all airline careers are smooth, but veteran pilot Steve McNeilly says the rewards make the turbulence worthwhile. He talks about the value of building experience in piston twins, learning to land the Boeing 737, and what it means to be a professional pilot. Steve also built a full-scale Vulcan bomber simulator, so he talks about the process of building one-of-a-kind sims and explains why he’s so interested in jets from the 1950s. In the Ready to Copy segment, you’ll learn what it was like to fly the DC-8, why the A&P certificates are so hard to earn, and why playing music and flying airplanes are similar.

The legendary T-38 Talon has been the aerial classroom for generations of Air Force pilots, and Matt Johnson spent many hours teaching there. He shares what he learned from that time, including the benefits of standardization, the importance of pre-flight briefings, and when to let a student make a mistake. These days Matt flies a Citation and a Lancair IVP, so he talks about applying those Air Force lessons to GA operations, and some mistakes he’s made along the way. In the Ready to Copy segment, you’ll learn how to give a good discovery flight, what SR-71 pilots called the airplane, and how cold it really is in his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota.

Juan Browne has flown everything from Air Force jets to vintage biplanes, but he’s best known for his accident analysis channel on YouTube, blancolirio. In this wide-ranging episode, he describes his unique approach to researching crashes and explains why he thinks all pilots can learn from others’ misfortunes. Juan also talks about his varied flying career, including fighting fires with the US Forest Service, flying C-141s all around the world, and life as an international airline pilot. In the Ready to Copy segment, Juan tells us what he’s changed his mind about since starting his channel, flying the open-cockpit Waco, and the best place to eat in Sydney, Australia.