I did the one thing I swore to myself that I would NEVER do. . . I sent a student to a check ride who wasn't qualified and they got turned away. Anyone who knows me knows I am always extremely diligent and will go the extra mile to make sure my students are knowledgable and prepared before they go to any check ride. However, I am still human (I guess) and therefore I am susceptible to mistakes at times. Today I discuss one of the biggest mistakes I've made in recent memory. This mistake cost a l...
Jul 12, 2025•24 min•Ep. 49
Staying ahead of the airplane during an instrument flight is not only one of the most critical things for a pilot to do, but can also be one of the hardest things - especially for new instrument pilots. Today we discuss a tool that can assist you with staying ahead of the plane and avoid missing critical events during an instrument flight. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautic...
Jul 05, 2025•8 min•Ep. 48
Proper safety briefings before flight are not only required by the regulations, but imperative for the safety of everyone on board and the general flying public. Today we discuss how we should be differentiate between briefings for passengers vs. briefings for other pilots. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Jun 28, 2025•13 min•Ep. 47
Airworthiness can be a confusing and complex topic for any pilot, but it's especially important when you're the pilot in command of an aircraft for hire! Today we delve a little deeper into the intricacies of airworthiness and what you need to be familiar with to pass your commercial pilot check ride. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher...
Jun 21, 2025•37 min•Ep. 46
Scenario Based Training has been really pushed to the forefront of how we teach and evaluate pilots in the past decade. Today we are going over some IFR scenarios straight from the ASA Oral Exam Guide that were chosen by YOU. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
May 31, 2025•36 min•Ep. 45
In today's episode, we delve into the world of aircraft leasing and explore the key differences between wet and dry leases, with a focus on how they pertain to commercial pilots. Whether you're preparing for your check ride, or already a working pilot, understanding these leasing options is crucial. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher -...
May 24, 2025•17 min•Ep. 44
In this episode, we dive into the crucial differences between common carriage and private carriage as they pertain to commercial pilots. Understanding these distinctions is essential for your check ride preparation and overall flying career. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
May 17, 2025•13 min•Ep. 43
We are continuing our ACS breakdown series and expanding it to your commercial oral exam! We start the commercial series today with Pilot Qualifications. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
May 10, 2025•46 min•Ep. 42
Today we are discussing exactly what a Visual Descent Point is and how it is different from the missed approach point. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Apr 26, 2025•13 min•Ep. 41
Today we are discussing 5 tips that will make your initial pilot training more efficient, effective and will set you up for a long successful career! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Apr 19, 2025•22 min•Ep. 40
Today we are discussing 5 tips to make you a better instrument pilot and to make your instrument training easier and more effective! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Apr 12, 2025•20 min•Ep. 39
It's no secret that sometimes the FAA just gets things WRONG. Sometimes they just make things confusing. Either way, these errors and ambiguities lead to many pilots mis-interpreting certain rules and requiring lawyers to clarify the FAA's position and intentions through letters of interpretation. Today we discuss two such issues with some very prominent regulations. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Webs...
Mar 15, 2025•16 min•Ep. 38
Holds can often be the most frustrating parts to students in instrument training. They have a certain complexity that tends to confuse and complicate when combined with all the other skills and items you need to learn in instrument training. However, the reality is they are much easier than most people initially realize, so today we are going to break down holds and holding entries from the technical side all the way to the practical side of things. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.y...
Mar 01, 2025•48 min•Ep. 37
Even though it's the most widely used approach in the professional flying world, the visual approach is largely overlooked in instrument training. In addition, the contact approach is so seldomly used at all, that most instructors fail to even mention it throughout a students' training. We talk about BOTH today! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound...
Feb 15, 2025•18 min•Ep. 36
With everything there is to learn in instrument flight training, one of the most difficult things can be learning how to simply control the aircraft! Today we discuss instrument attitude flying and the techniques and methods such as control performance and primary and support that can be utilized to help make control of the aircraft in the instrument environment just as easy as it is in the visual environment! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: ...
Feb 08, 2025•40 min•Ep. 35
There are many ways I see subpar service and quality of training from CFIs, but today we are talking about the abuse I constantly see in one specific area of the experience requirements for the commercial pilot certificate. We will talk about the short-comings that are all too common with these training activities as well as the solutions I have personally developed for my own students. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikT...
Jan 04, 2025•28 min•Ep. 34
Talking with ATC as a student pilot is often one of the most challenging things people face in flight training. Unfortunately it tends to just get more complicated as you get into instrument training, but there are a few key things every pilot can do to make this task a lot easier. Join us today as we discuss ATC clearances and communications. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaerona...
Dec 28, 2024•49 min•Ep. 33
Today we are continuing with systems related to IFR flight. In today's episode we specifically discuss navigation systems, as well as airworthiness for IFR flight. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Dec 14, 2024•37 min•Ep. 32
Today we are diving into systems related to IFR flight. In today's episode we specifically discuss Anti-icing and De-icing systems, as well as Autopilot. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Dec 07, 2024•15 min•Ep. 31
I will start off by saying there is SO MUCH to go over in this portion of the Instrument ACS that I can't possibly fit it all into this one podcast episode. So if there is anything specific YOU want me to cover in a future podcast, please leave a comment and let me know what you want to hear more about! But until then, we continue with our overview of the ACS breakdown with IFR cross country flight planning! Dmitry's Video: https://youtu.be/k8WY1WDudZE?si=lBSRGufeCeR1cxbK Send us a text Support ...
Nov 30, 2024•58 min•Ep. 30
If there is one thing that really separates and instrument pilot from a VFR-only pilot, it's probably their ability to read and decipher the weather! It's often said that a pilot needs to be just as much a weatherman as they are a pilot and that is never truer than when flying IFR. Today we breakdown the things that DPEs will be looking for to gauge your understanding of and risk management in relation to WEATHER! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagr...
Nov 23, 2024•50 min•Ep. 29
IMSAFE is one of the first acronyms pilots are taught, but it often doesn't get the attention it really deserves! It's important to understand the real-life stressors and ailments we all deal with as individuals, rather than getting caught up in generalizations or hypotheticals. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda N...
Nov 16, 2024•15 min•Ep. 28
When it comes to the priorities in the cockpit, we often use the little mnemonic "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate", but as CFIs there is a forth one that gets added into the mix and that is EDUCATE. Today we talk about educating and where in the order of priorities it should fall. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda N...
Nov 09, 2024•13 min•Ep. 27
Back by popular demand and for the first time on YouTube. . . We are continuing our ACS breakdown series and expanding it to your IFR oral exam! We start the IFR series today with Pilot Qualifications. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Nov 02, 2024•33 min•Ep. 26
So many pilots get it in their mind that go-arounds on a check ride are frowned upon, when in reality it's quite the opposite! The other oversight in training is that each specific approach and landing have their own techniques that need to be adhered to. We discuss all of this in this weeks episode! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher ...
Oct 26, 2024•26 min•Ep. 25
Today we talk about the differences between narration and actually teaching. Simply saying what you're doing doesn't convey all the information our learners need to know. We need to continue to incorporate the concepts of "what, why and how" into everything we do to help our learners fully embrace and understand the topics of flight training. Telling Is Not Teaching: The Flight Instructor's Handbook https://a.co/d/iHkAYZb Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut...
Oct 19, 2024•16 min•Ep. 24
The Normalization of Deviance is inherent to human nature, but it is something that we has CFIs and pilots need to do our best to mitigate at all times! FLYING Magazine Article: https://www.flyingmag.com/cfi-central/normalization-of-deviance-can-cause-problems-for-pilots/?MailingID=%25CAMPAIGNID%25&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=FLY-NL-Daily&oly_enc_id=8353B6929623A4S Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestae...
Oct 12, 2024•20 min•Ep. 23
The What, Why, How method is the basic structure I use for teaching almost anything! It's a great model that can be used both in the classroom and in the airplane. If you're an aspiring or current CFI, try this method out when teaching your students and let me know what you think! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda...
Oct 05, 2024•15 min•Ep. 22
A great question was brought up by one of my viewers on Youtube about how much ownership should students be taking in their own flight training. Join us today as we discuss the answer to this question and the dynamics between a student and an instructor. Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Sep 28, 2024•17 min•Ep. 21
The Lazy 8 is not only one of my favorite commercial maneuvers, but is by far the HARDEST maneuver you will ever have to do on a check ride. Today we discuss the intricacies of this maneuver in an effort to help you understand and fly it better in the plane! Send us a text Support the show Youtube: www.youtube.com/northwestaeronaut Instagram: @northwest_aeronaut TikTok: nw_aeronaut Website: www.northwestaeronautics.com Music - Epidemic Sound: Go Higher - FLYIN Vegas - Onda Norte...
Sep 21, 2024•22 min•Ep. 20
