Look who’s flying…
Justin’s been flying high in the Motocross and Supercross circuits since 2009 and has recently started flight training with us (for airplanes. He already knows how to fly dirt-bikes!). Welcome Justin! We are excited to be working with...
Read MoreSend us your pictures, stories, jokes…
Do you have something interesting to share? Please send your aviation pictures, stories, jokes, lessons, etc… to me at [email protected]. If it’s safe, legal and doesn’t stretch the generally accepted moral boundaries too far, we’ll post it for the world to see! Safe travels, Billy
Read MoreCockpit weather radar is awesome BUT…
Technology is wonderful (when it works) and if you fly with some form of in-flight weather up or down link (this is the “XM Weather” type, not true radar) you certainly understand the value these new gadgets bring to the cockpit BUT it is vital you understand what it’s showing you, especially with “radar” images. The time stamp on these images is NOT the true time of the weather condition and can be up to, if not older than 20 minutes. Thunderstorms often travel in excess of 45kts by-the-way. The NTSB recently released a Safety Alert about these weather...
Read MoreLook who’s flying…
Ben (right) and Blake are both Air Traffic Control students with our friends at Advanced ATC (http://www.advancedatc.com) here in Valdosta. Ben is also one of our approved flight instructors. Looks like a grueling lesson.
Read MoreWhat is an Agonic line anyway?
Remember sectional charts? The latitude/longitude lines are drawn in reference to TRUE north however, the compass seems to prefer MAGNETIC north so we need to know what the difference is between true and magnetic north to accurately plan any given flight. The difference between the two is magnetic declination (pilots call it magnetic variation) and it is represented on sectional charts by magenta dashed lines with the amount of variation for the area labeled in degrees with an E or W after (remember “east is least, west is best” from your private pilot training?) Ex. KVLD is...
Read MoreLook who’s flying…
Austin and Jay “cleared to taxi”. Austin recently received his Private Pilot certificate (Congratulations Austin!) and has jumped right into training for his instrument rating. Jay has been instructing in the Valdosta area for around ten years...
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A typical lesson (prior to solo) involves approximately 1 hour of ground school going over the planned flight, flying for approximately 1 hour and approximately 1/2 hour ground discussing the flight and planning the next lesson. After soloing, the lessons will focus on cross-country planning and flying and the lessons will be longer (more ground school and longer flights).