John Zimmerman

On his way to Sun ’n Fun 2023, the engine on Josh Harnagel’s Bonanza quit, leading to a forced landing in a cow pasture. While no one was hurt, Josh learned a lot from this harrowing experience. He shares those lessons in this episode, including why partial engine failures are hard to diagnose, why hope can kill you in an emergency, and what he has changed about his habits since the incident. Josh works at Redbird, so he also offers plenty of practical tips for using flight simulators to maintain proficiency, whether at the airport or at home. In the Ready to Copy Segment, you’ll hear the biggest marketing mistake flight schools make, the best Bonanza model, and Josh’s favorite Texas barbecue.

Datalink weather, either from ADS-B or SiriusXM, is an essential tool for almost all pilots. Once you've flown a cross country with in-flight radar, up-to-date METARs, and visual AIRMETs, it's awfully hard to go back to flying without it. If you're considering adding a datalink weather receiver to your iPad (like a Sentry, Stratus, or GDL), one of the first decisions you'll face is the source of your weather data: ADS-B or SiriusXM? Both are reliable systems that deliver the same key information, so neither one is a bad choice. But there are important differences to consider. Let's review each option.

How much of the recent boom in private aviation will last now that the pandemic is over? Aviation analyst Brian Foley says about 10%, which is good for the industry but not enough to sustain some overly optimistic business models. In this episode, he talks about the current state of the market, the fate of Wheels Up, and Cirrus Aircraft’s plan to go public. Brian is also getting current as a pilot after 15 years, and he offers some realistic advice for other rusty pilots. In the Ready to Copy segment, Brian shares his famously blunt opinion about Sustainable Aviation Fuel, electric airplanes, hydrogen power, and the best-looking Falcon jets.

Over the last two years, Pilot's Discretion has grown to be one of the top five aviation podcasts on Apple's charts, with devoted subscribers who listen every two weeks as Sporty's John Zimmerman interviews some of aviation's most interesting people. From honest discussions about flight training to fascinating stories from world famous airshow pilots, this podcast is for anyone who loves to fly. No news or fluff, just thought-provoking conversations. If you missed any in 2023, you can catch up with our 10 most popular episodes.

Our goal at Sporty's is to make flying safer, easier, and more fun. Sometimes we do that with a great new product, but sometimes we do that with original content. In addition to our main website at Sportys.com, we publish three online magazines that focus on important topics in aviation: iPad Pilot News covers apps and accessories, Flight Training Central serves up tips to improve your flying skills, and Air Facts shares stories and lessons learned from other pilots. Plus, our Product PIREP series on the Sporty's blog delivers hands-on demos of the latest pilot gear. If you missed something this year, it's OK—we published almost 400 articles across these sites in 2023! Here were the top 10.

In this special year-end episode, host John Zimmerman sits down with producer Rob Reider for a behind-the-scenes look at Pilot’s Discretion. They talk about what traits make for a good guest, the two rules for podcast hosts, and tips for getting better audio. You’ll also learn the most popular Pilot’s Discretion episodes of 2023, what John and Rob’s favorite episodes are, and what lessons they have learned about flying after 66 interviews. In the back-and-forth Ready to Copy segment, they share the most famous pilots they’ve flown with, their nominee for most underrated airplane, and their favorite airports.

Sporty’s Webinar Series touches on a variety of topics, from training to new products and services to help you stay informed. For your convenience, all webinars are archived so you can attend anytime your schedule permits.

From F-16 to 737 to Citation to Bonanza, Don Wykoff has flown a lot of different airplanes in his 50-year flying career. In this episode he explains how he stayed safe by approaching every flight with professionalism, using checklists the right way, and building training into simple trips. He also talks about losing the engine in his F-16, why pilot rest rules matter, and how to transition back to GA after a career flying jets. In the Ready to Copy segment, Don explains why he doesn’t like the GUMPS checklist, why he liked to hand-fly Cat III approaches in the 737, and what flight instructors can learn from airline pilots.

After a lifetime of riding on airplanes, economist Patrick Chovanec decided to learn how to fly them. In this episode, he explains how a combination of Covid-19 and Microsoft Flight Simulator started him on a path to earning his Private Pilot certificate, and what he learned along the way. He explains how flight training can be lonely, why modern flight simulators are much more than a game now, and why airplanes are so expensive. In the Ready to Copy segment, Patrick shares the biggest myth in flight training, his preferred flight sim equipment, underrated countries to visit, and his favorite economics joke.

The point of an accident investigation is “to find out what happened, so that we can prevent it from happening again,” says longtime airline pilot and former NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt. He shares what he's learned after decades of working this process, including: how pilots should read an NTSB report, why flight path monitoring matters, what professionalism means for GA pilots, and how flight data monitoring can improve safety. In the Ready to Copy segment, Robert talks about landmark accidents, why NOTAMs are often useless, and his favorite food from South Carolina.