That’s why we were so pleased recently to stop by the Redbird Skyport in San Marcos, TX to congratulate the students from Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Flushing, NY on passing their ground school and starting their flight training.

These students are engaged in an accelerated training program for their Private Pilot certificates at the Skyport flight training laboratory. Vaughn College and the Redbird Skyport are working together to determine the most effective way to use simulators in Private Pilot certification. The goal is to turn out a pilot who is not only physically proficient, but is a good risk manager and truly ready to be pilot in command.

The accelerated program at the Skyport flight training laboratory uses the latest computer-based software from Cessna, developed by King Schools. Instructors will introduce flight maneuvers in a full-motion simulator, and then have the students practice what they have learned in the actual airplane. The folks at Skyport aren’t worried about how much or little credit the FAA will give for the simulator time – they’re just interested in whatever provides the most thorough, cost-effective training. (Very few pilots finish their Private Pilot training in the FAA minimum time, anyway. The average flight time is about 73 hours.)

Skyport will also be testing the Redbird Parrot program (interactive ATC) on the Vaughn students, as well as their GIFT program (Guided Independent Flight Instruction, which provides video instruction from us in the simulator before and after they practice maneuvers), to see what changes should be made to these programs in order to provide the maximum help to a student.

And they’ll also be testing the results from a fun, competitive cross-wind simulator

Experimentation over a period of time, with these Vaughn students and others who will follow in their footsteps, will establish the best ratio and sequence of simulator time to airplane flight time. That’s why Redbird calls the Skyport a flight training laboratory. And the good news is that Skyport will publish its results and conclusions, so every flight school in the country can benefit from what they learn.

You might be asking, are these Vaughn College students hand-picked and special? They’re special only in the sense that everyone in love with aviation is special – they are excited, enthusiastic, and motivated.

So congratulations to these ground-breaking, soon-to-be-pilot, students from Vaughn!

We lost 50 pounds in only two months.  We have gone from carrying that much weight in paper to the airport to only two iPads.  That’s better than Jenny Craig, but when you consider just how much smarter these devices are than paper, you quickly understand the unbelievable adoption rate among pilots.  From flight planning and weather briefing all the way through departure procedures, charting and approach plates, these little 1.5 pound devices do it all.  But the work doesn’t stop at the chocks.  Once we arrive, they serve up email, hotel reservations, driving directions, books, and music, just to scratch the surface.  In a very short time it has become hard to imagine flying anywhere without the iPad.

Now, when you put a tablet computer together with online training you really hit the jackpot—training on your schedule, where ever you are, on an easy-to-handle, lightweight device.  Wow!  You can even sign up at this moment for an online course, and be taking it just moments later.  We have come a long way, but believe that the future will provide even newer ways to train.  You can count on KING to be there with products you can trust to help you reach your aviation goals.  To learn about taking KING courses on your iPad or other tablets, see page on using mobile devices.

By the way, the only problem with losing all that weight the way we did is that it only works in the cockpit!  We still need to keep up our exercise!

iSWiFTER on iPad for KING online pilot courses

The obvious, sheer pleasure so many pilots get from their iPads gave Martha and me iPad envy. We finally got one of our own, and found innumerable uses for it in the cockpit. But by far the biggest news is that the folks at King Schools showed us how you can take KING courses on it by introducing us to an application called iSWiFTER.

iSWiFTER is an iPad application that was originally developed to enable running Flash-based games on the iPad, but it also works for viewing any website that (like ours) is implemented using Flash. While not perfect, iSWiFTER allows quick and easy access to King Schools’ online training courses, including video playback and taking interactive questions.

At a price of only $2.99 per month a $4.99 ONE TIME FEE (that’s two four dollars and ninety-nine cents, folks!) to get out of “demo mode” and be able to run your KING courses on it, it’s a great value too.  While, as we said, the iSWiFTER solution is not perfect, we are delighted with the flexibility this provides to fellow iPad owners, and we pledge to continue our quest to seek better solutions in the future.

By the way, we have fallen in love with the iPad. It is light-weight, fast, readable in sunlight, and provides a user-interface that is intuitive to learn. We are intrigued with the idea of a single device that pilots can use to train, brief flights and access in-flight information.

All things considered, we believe that the iPad provides a wonderful way to consume aviation information. If you use an iPad or other tablet, you will find that King Schools is there, making our courses available for you. You can count on us to continue working to ensure our training is available wherever you are, and on whatever device you find useful.

Now if our second unit would just arrive—so we can quit fighting over this one.

Related articles

• Learning To Fly the Citation Mustang – Single Pilot (johnandmartha.kingschools.com)

John and Martha take a break during shooting for “Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot”.

You would think we would be over the thrill that comes with flying a new aircraft.  But the excitement Martha and I felt recently from learning to fly the Citation Mustang demonstrated that when it comes to flying, we still have the childlike enthusiasm of beginners.

To a pilot with a piston-powered background like us, there is no greater thrill than transitioning to a new jet.  To us, jets will always be special.  You are flooded with excitement and sensations—the thrill of hearing a jet engine wind up on engine start, so full of promise—the semi-sweet smell of jet fuel—the exhilaration of hearing jet engines follow you wherever you go—and the power, oh so much power and all at the command of your right hand.

Along with this excitement comes the pleasant discovery of new concepts, a new flight environment and elegant systems that provide a whole new level of comfort and safety.

Flying the Mustang near Page, AZ while shooting “Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot”

As you know, many jets require two pilots, but the Citation Mustang is certificated to be flown single pilot.  It is a personal airplane, just the way a Cessna Corvalis or a Cirrus is a personal airplane.  It is a jet that evokes dreams of the freedom of getting in whenever you want and jetting off into the blue.

Before you can fulfill that dream, you have to demonstrate the ability to fly single pilot by taking a checkride and earning the C510S type rating. It would seem that should be slam-dunk for us—we have been flying jets for over 24 years.  But getting that single-pilot type rating wasn’t all that easy for us.  Our jet flying has always been in a two-crew environment.  We have shared the workload and always had someone to look out for our mistakes.

Martha and I each rode along in the right seat of the simulator while the other was in the left, but since we were going for our single pilot ratings, we weren’t supposed to help out the other pilot.  For me of course, sitting in the right seat and keeping my mouth shut was probably the hardest part of the training.

As when flying any aircraft single-pilot IFR, the challenge is to use periods when you are not busy, to get ahead of things to relieve the workload during periods when you will be busy—all the while using all your resources to maintain situational awareness.

The G1000 and the GFC-700 autopilot in the Mustang are fabulous tools for doing all of that.  But it really pays to be sharp at using the G1000.  (King Schools’ course on the G1000 can be a great help here.  It includes a built-in procedures trainer.)

Inside the Citation Mustang glass cockpit, featuring the Garmin G1000

The other thing that can help out a lot is knowing how jets behave compared to piston aircraft.  Among other things, the throttle response is different and you don’t have the benefit of propellers to create instant lift or drag when you need them.  (You might want to take a look at King Schools’ Jet Transition Course.)

Martha gets her Citation Mustang single-pilot type rating!

In our opinion, if you are dreaming of flying your own jet, you should get your type rating first.  Martha and I have gotten great pleasure from learning to fly each jet we have flown, and confirmed in two cases that we did want to buy the aircraft…and in another case decided we did not want to buy the aircraft.

By the way, you’ll want to know that we are finishing up the production of our new course, “Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot.” It leverages our own recent learning experience and will make your dream of flying a jet even more vivid.

UPDATE: We just posted a video preview of our upcoming course on flying the Citation Mustang.

UPDATE: Flying the Citation Mustang—Single Pilot course is now available for purchase here.

For many folks, a big challenge to achieving that next rating or certificate is finding time to study for the written exam. If you have not previously used a KING course, you may be surprised to find that we have structured our courses so that in only about 15 minutes, you can complete a knowledge lesson—and the course will automatically track and show each completed lesson. Put together 15 minutes here and there, and you will be amazed to see your rapid progress…and what you have learned. In what seems like no time, you will be ready to confidently take your written exam. The focus for all KING courses is to clarify, simplify and make it fun! You will be happy to see that even with a busy schedule, you can still have fun preparing for your written exam.

Speaking of making it fun, this quarter we will draw the winner in our 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes. Over the years, we have given away just short of 2 million dollars worth of prizes to lucky winners. The odds of winning are not bad (about 100,000 to 1) and for our winners, the prizes have fulfilled many dreams. For King Schools’ 35th Anniversary, we put together a package of 3 very special prizes that continues this tradition in great style.

One of the places we especially enjoy traveling is Alaska where we have spent a lot of time both teaching and exploring the State in a Cessna 185 Skywagon on Amphibious Floats. As part of our 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes, we very much look forward to giving away an Alaskan seaplane rating vacation to a lucky pilot that will put them in touch with that amazing experience. Equally exciting, the winner will receive a state-of-the-art Redbird TD simulator, plus a KING Get It All Kit of their choice.

We have all heard the old saw that a good pilot is always learning. This incorporates a great deal of wisdom. The good news is that the learning possibilities in aviation are endless. Whatever your 2011 flying plans include, our guarantee to you is to keep the focus where it belongs, finding new and innovative ways to help you achieve your aviation goals. With over 90 aviation courses, we hope we have one that is right for you.

Have fun learning and flying.

To get the most out of fall and winter flying, you may want to brush up on managing the risks associated with weather. We have you covered with our course, Practical Risk Management for Weather. You will enjoy the confidence that comes from having a solid process to evaluate weather risks when making your decision to fly … or not.

Even if you do reduce your flying over the winter, we recommend using some of that extra time to stay sharp on aviation knowledge. What better use is there for those long nights than to curl up in front of a fireplace with a laptop or tablet computer, and brush up on aviation topics that you may not have touched in a while—or perhaps even to prepare for that next flight review, rating or certificate?

The good news is that King Schools provides more ways than ever to access the aviation knowledge you need. Most all of our courses are now offered both online and computer installed. We even have Apple mobile device options; search for “King Schools” in the App Store from your Apple mobile device and you will find 5 new courses including the best seller, Takeoffs and Landings Made Easy.

One thing that we love about aviation is that there is always more to learn. That learning is essential to safety—a topic we are passionate about. We hope that we can serve you by providing the knowledge you need in a way that simplifies, clarifies and makes it fun to learn. Let us know how we are doing.

Having just completed our oceanic flight, we also became aware of a safety warning regarding the use of Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC).  The alert warned of the erroneous presentation of Air Traffic Control (ATC) LOG data to a flight crew while in Oceanic FANS CPDLC operation.  The alert was issued by EUROCONTROL for CPDLC problems encountered in the North Atlantic, but it could be a problem anywhere CPDLC is used in oceanic airspace. Though most folks won’t be affected by this, if you do use CPDLC, we wanted to make you aware.

The Safety Warning Message begins: “A recent incident occurred where a (data link) message to climb may have been sent to an aircraft without the ANSP Oceanic Ground System initiating it.”

You can read the entire Red Alert Safety Warning Message on www.skybrary.com.

We just finished a major upgrade to our course on the Garmin G1000, version 8 (Flying the Garmin G1000). We’re excited about how the course turned out, especially the integrated procedures trainer (no need to sit in your plane to learn your G1000). But while we were teaching mastery of the 125 knobs and buttons on the G1000, we found ourselves appreciating the wonderful tools available to today’s pilots.

Recently, we have been flying the C162 Skycatcher, making video for a new Cessna course (YouTube: First Skycatcher flies to King Schools).  Even that wonderful light sport aircraft has a glass cockpit, and we love flying with the G1000 in our Cessna 172SP (the sweepstakes plane we’re giving away in January!).  Even our super-old Falcon 10 has glass in it, since it was updated to have EFIS and an MFD some time back.

Occasionally, when we take a “round dial” airplane up, we are reminded just how much things have changed. So we thought we’d take a moment and fly through the waypoints of civilian aviation navigation history. Let’s see how this technology came together to enable GPS, the foundations of avionics, and the G1000 in particular:

Departure: ca 1761

Some say the best place to start is at the beginning. So, to see where it all began, we’ll jump back to 1761 when the chronometer combined with the compass and the sextant to give mariners complete open-sea navigation. This was about as low-tech as you could get, yet using a number of stable reference points provided by nature (stars and time), travelers could triangulate their location across the expanse of the seas. As much as technology has evolved, we find that even the most sophisticated navigation system shares traits with this earliest approach.

The earliest set of navigation instruments used star position and time to determine position

Beacons Beckon – Keeping the Home Fires Lit

Fast forward to 1919, when pilots decide to make their own “transmitting” navigational aids—bonfires. Pilots found this simple approach could be used for visual reference flight at night.  Later, these were replaced with light beacons.  Still no real tools or electronics required; just good pilotage and dead-reckoning.

By 1929, the first four-course radio range went into service.  This was a real electronic breakthrough for flight.  Twin towers emitted alternating signals that converged to a steady tone when you were “on the beam”.    The technology was widely used during WWII.  It was a great navaid if you wanted to be “on the beam”.  Anywhere else and you were “on your own” with your gyroscope and altimeter.

Sometimes Delays are a Good Thing!

LORAN Station from the Aleutian Island Chain, ca 1943

It took 10 years before the next historical waypoint to GPS navigation would come along.  It was the war-time development of LOng RAnge Navigation, or LORAN.  This 1940’s system introduced the concept of measuring the time-delay of a signal traveling to a receiver to calculate position—still used in today’s GPS.  Whereas the four-course radio range told you where you should be, LORAN told you where you were.  Knowing where you were as well as where you wanted to go was a big step.

Around the same time that LORAN started, the first Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) radio was used for scheduled airline navigation.

By the 1950’s VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range (VOR) was widely available for US navigation.  Like the four-course radio range, VOR used two transmitters.  But in VOR, the first signal broadcasts an omnidirectional reference signal and the second signal rotates a line-of-sight beam, much like a lighthouse.  This second signal goes 180 degrees out of phase when it rotates 180 degrees from magnetic North.  

When this second signal sweeps the plane, the receiver calculates the phase difference of the two signals and uses this to determine the plane’s current radial from the VOR station. With two VORs, the aircraft’s position can be fixed over the ground.

Alternatively, Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) was added to many VOR stations.  It was based on WWII Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems and used relayed pulse signals and measurement of time delay (remember 1940’s LORAN?) to determine the distance (slant range) to the ground station. Eventually, enough of these VOR stations were linked together to form over 45,000 miles of air highways, or “Victor airways”.

In the 1960’s, we entered the era of solid state and the VOR’s were upgraded to this new, more reliable circuitry.  At the same time, these ground stations took over the duties of their older four-course radio range ancestors and extended “Victor airways” and “jet routes” worldwide.

Navigation Takes it Up a Notch—Way Up

Up ‘til now, much of the groundwork for electronic navigation was already in place.  But the key word here is “groundwork”. That’s because no satellites were used yet and beacons were stationary.  That changed in 1964, when the military navigation satellite constellation known as TRANSIT or the Navy Navigation Satellite System (NAVSAT), became operational. 

Satellite for the TRANSIT system, also known as NAVSTAR

This first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) exploited a discovery made after the Sputnik launch in 1957, when folks realized that the Doppler shift of a moving spacecraft’s (satellite’s) radio signal could be used to determine the location of a receiver on Earth. Satellite navigation was an amazing feat.  Still, for us pilots, there was a serious trade-off.  Although its range covered the entire Earth with 200m accuracy, hourly updates were the most it could deliver–a win for ships, but not too useful for planes.  And since it was military use only, even that point was moot.  At least satellites were now on the stage.

The Birth of Avionics

For avionics, 1968 was a banner year.  Components in the aircraft of the day each had their own dedicated wiring and connections.   With the advent of many new devices, things under the hood were getting pretty complicated.  This is when the military’s idea of a “multiplexed avionics data bus” first surfaced, an idea not too different from today’s USB port. The thought was that if you could take the data from each component, tag it with an “address”, then send all the data down a single wire to be sorted on the other end, you could eliminate lots of wires, connections and weight.  That year, an F-15 was tested with such a platform and out of this came Mil-Std-1533B.  This was the interface standard that would shape the future avionics, making them more reliable, lighter and cheaper.

It’s the 70’s.  And while folks were starting to try on clothes made of  new “synthetic fabric”, the military was working to synthesize flight information.  To date, most flight systems were individual mechanical, electric or magnetic components, with radio being the most sophisticated thing on board.  Wanting more “intel”, the military set out to integrate various types of new sensors into aircraft, with the goal of tying this information together using “aviation electronics” or “avionics”, a  buzz word we still use today.

The military was also beginning to build out GPS.  The first of dozens of satellites to follow launched in 1976.

This NASA 737 cockpit shows the co-pilot's position upgraded to monochromatic electronic flight displays. The pilot side was not yet modified. ca 1974

NASA was busy, too.  Recognizing how complex transport aircraft had become—with more than a hundred cockpit instruments and controls—NASA sought to develop a way for pilots to display “situational awareness”.  The result?  The first full glass cockpit demonstrator.  It was a rousing success and the commercial industry quickly adopted the concept, with the MD-80 first to roll out “glass” in 1979.  Other commercial planes were soon to follow.

Around that same time, the ground-based Omega very low frequency worldwide navaid was being used by the airlines.  It could be considered a very low frequency version of LORAN.  Although it had 1-2 mile accuracy, those who could afford it could supplement it with expensive self-contained Inertial Navigation Systems (INS)—think big gyroscope coupled with an ability to track every change in position from a pilot-entered starting point.

So, now, we have a proven satellite navigation system (still military) and a glass cockpit (still commercial).  We just need to put the two together and make it available and cheap enough for General Aviation!

The ball would be set rolling by a tragic event in 1983.  Due to the inaccuracies of current commercial navigation systems, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down when it unknowingly wandered into USSR airspace.  President Reagan responded by issuing a directive to open up GPS development for civilian purposes.

GPS Goes Up, Civil Avionics Speeds Up

In 1987, the first glass cockpit went into non-airline service.  Gulfstream had taken a big chance and bet on a cockpit whose dials were “drawn” by cathode-ray tubes.  The bet paid off and the Gulfstream IV business jet set a new standard in civil aviation.

Gulfstream delivers the first General Aviation craft delivered with a glass cockpit

At this time, GPS was not yet ready for use, yet several parallel developments were based in it.  Among these was the successful project in 1991 that interfaced the first portable/panel mounted GPS with autopilot.

In the beginning of 1994, the 24th GPS satellite was placed into in orbit, completing the constellation.  By early 1995, the new GPS system, called NAVSTAR was declared fully operational. Now, just like the earliest mariners, travelers could look to the “stars” for guidance.

GA Gets a Constellation Prize

In 1996, President Clinton, recognizing the importance of GPS to civilian users, declared it a dual-use national asset.  At this time, in the interest of security, only a Selective Availability (SA) signal was made available to civilians.  SA effectively increased positional error, but GPS receivers were now approved for IFR!  The military also made GPS their primary system and decommissioned their TRANSIT system. 

In 1998, Vice President Gore commissioned the upgrade of GPS to provide two additional civilian signals enhancing accuracy and reliability for aviation use.  Two years later, Selective Availability was removed, instantly improving civilian GPS precision.  Within 10 years, 31 GPS satellites would be in orbit, providing redundancy and precision to 15 meters.  Why not better than 15 meters?  We’ll get to that in a moment.

Crystal Glass

Let’s catch up on the glass cockpit.  By the end of the decade and with the help of mass-marketed PC’s and TV’s to drive costs down, the vibrant color, reliability and low power requirements of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens had replaced cathode-ray tube displays.  Today’s familiar full-color screens became available at a cost we GA pilots could finally affordafford, GPS and all!

Final Approach…

That brings us back to where we started, which is today’s Glass Cockpit.  So, here’s a review of the events or “waypoints” that got us here:

Historic events that enabled GPS for GA

• The earlier mariners looked to space for their navigation
• The 1919 bonfires showed us that we can “transmit” waypoints
• In 1929, we learned that radio signals could establish navigation paths
• In 1940’s LORAN, we learned that signal transit times could be used for triangulating position
• In 1957 Sputnik showed us that satellites could be used for navigation
• In 1994 the 24th GPS satellite completed the constellation
• In 1996 President Clinton made GPS available to General Aviation

Historic events that enabled the Glass Cockpit for GA

• In 1968, the idea of a “digital data bus” made way for lighter, cheaper and more reliable avionics systems
• In the 1970’s the military adds new sensors to aircraft and integrates the results
• At the same time, NASA demonstrates the first all-glass cathode-ray cockpit
• In 1987, the first GA Glass Cockpit goes into service
• In the late 90’s, LCD screen production for PC’s and TV’s lowers the production cost for LCD-based cockpit screen.

GPS in the Nutshell

Since we’re here, let’s take a closer look at how GPS works for us pilots.  Then we’ll circle back to the finish what we started on—the G1000. 

GPS receivers use the constantly emitting GPS satellite signals that all the satellites send in unison.  Based on the time it takes to receive three satellite’s signals and the Doppler Effect of each signal, a series of computer calculations can narrow the position of your receiver to one of two places—a point close to Earth and a point far into space.  It’s a reasonable assumption (we hope) that you are not in space, so the computer can always pick the point closest to Earth.  From this, your position relative to ground can then be determined.

But believe it or not, the speed of light causes some trouble for us here.  It is used in the calculations and since the satellite signals travel for only an extremely short duration, (micro-seconds) GPS is very sensitive to the accuracy of your GPS receiver’s clock.  To address this, you simply need to have a really, really expensive atomic clock on board, right?

We know that the cost of GPS has come way down, so we couldn’t possibly have an atomic clock in our receiver.  The receiver manufacturers must have done something, right?  What did the manufacturers do?  Actually, some very cleaver folks realized that if they used a fourth satellite, they could check where the first three satellites say you are, then compare this to the distance to the 4th satellite—four equations (4 satellites) for four unknowns (x,y,z,time).  Since the satellites all have atomic clocks, any discrepancy would be due to error in your clock.  The good news is that this can be used to compensate your system and provide you with accurate (and inexpensive) position results down to 15 meters!  Amazing!

Why not better than 15 meters?  Because GPS uses signal timing to determine position and although we figured out the expensive clock issue, there was another troublemaker lurking in our atmosphere.  Apparently, when the ionosphere “billows”, it slows down the GPS signals, throwing off our readings.  Once again, cleaver folks stepped in to figure this out and with a few more ground stations and satellites, came up with the Wide Area Augmentation System or WAAS.

WAAS first became available to General Aviation in 2003.  Using what’s called Differential GPS, its sole job is to tell your receiver how to compensate for changes in the atmosphere.  If you have equipment that supports WAAS, then you can count on accuracy down to 3 meters.  Sounds almost good enough to use for automated landings, but that’s LAAS and that’s another story!

It’s been a long journey through history.  We hope you’ve enjoyed your flight.

We started this blog by talking about our updated G1000 version 8 course, which lead to looking at the historical breakthroughs that made GPS and avionics possible.  The exciting part is that this is just the start.  Within the GPS and avionics framework, so many other navaids became possible.  For the G1000, it is things like:

• Moving map display
• Flight Director and Autopilot
• Vertical Navigation
• Terrain display and warning
• Real-time weather overlays
• 3D Virtual Reality landscape
• Traffic Information Services (TIS) alerts
• Wide Area Augmentation Service (WAAS)

And these merely scratch the surface of what the Garmin G1000 can do.  Like most avionics today, it only helps if you know how to use it!  We think you’ll agree that GA cockpits have come a long way and we like where they’ve landed.

Blessed with fine self-image

We pilots are usually very confident people. In fact you might say we are “blessed with fine self-images.” And you wouldn’t want it any other way. After all, if you are a passenger, you want your pilot to be confident.

But there is a fine line between confidence and overconfidence that can too easily be crossed. Insurance company representatives are often forced to make a decision—is this client merely confident, or overconfident? There is actually a pretty easy way to tell the difference. The overconfident pilot is a know-it-all. They can’t be told anything. They are the ones who most vigorously resist a training requirement for a new aircraft. Guess what. They are the very pilots with the highest accident rates. They aren’t necessarily fool-hardy risk-takers. They just think they are exempt. So they fail to proactively identify and manage the risks of flight.

Sometimes you wonder if you can see the results of overconfidence in the quotes from the aftermath of a fatal accident. “He was such a wonderful pilot.” You have to ask, did they actually have an opportunity to evaluate his flying skills, or did everyone think he was a wonderful pilot because he displayed such supreme confidence around the airport?

The truly best pilots are the ones who know that they don’t know everything and are continually learning. If you’ve been out of the habit of learning about flying, now is the time to get re-engaged in learning. It will put new excitement in your flying and make you a more aware and safer pilot.