AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2018 - 33

HEADLINES THAT
AFFECT YOU

INDUSTRY NEWS

|

Recent news from the aviation world
FAA PROPOSES $3.7 MILLION
NAVWORX FINE
The FAA announced in October that the
agency has proposed a $3.685 million
civil penalty against NavWorx Inc. of
Rowlett, Texas, for allegedly producing
and selling Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transceivers that did not meet FAA requirements,
and for allegedly misleading customers
about those products.
-AOPA.org
NATIONAL AIR & SPACE MUSEUM TO
CELEBRATE GENERAL AVIATION
The Smithsonian National Air & Space
Museum in Washington, D.C., will
undergo a seven-year makeover that
will touch each of the facility's 23 galleries. A new "We All Fly" exhibit will
celebrate the broad appeal of general
aviation with displays exploring aerobatics, air racing, agriculture, gliders,
ultralights, business aviation, and firefighting.
-AVWeb
DRONE INTEGRATION PROGRAM
LAUNCHED
The U.S. Department of Transportation
launched the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program
November 2, aiming to draw state, local,
and tribal governments into collaborations that will accelerate the approval
of advanced operations, such as flights
over people or package delivery at low
altitudes. Public and private entities
filled up slots for live webinars to learn
more about the program.
-AOPA.org
NEW FLORIDA TFRS PLANNED FOR
PRESIDENTIAL TRIPS
President Donald Trump is expected to
resume his seasonal visits to his Mar-aLago property in Palm Beach, Florida,
and the general aviation businesses at
nearby Palm Beach County Park Airport
are bracing for a new round of forced
shutdowns when temporary flight
restrictions (TFRs) go into effect in the
local airspace, as happened frequently
last winter and spring.
-AOPA.org
RED BULL RETURNS TO U.S. IN 2018
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship will return to the popular Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 6 and
7, 2018, the only U.S. stop planned in the
race series for the next year. -AOPA.org

Sporty's redesigns
'Learn to Fly' course
New content is now cross-platform
B Y I A N J. T W O M B LY

UNTIL NOW, if you purchased Sporty's
Pilot Shop's Learn to Fly course, you were
required to choose whether you wanted
the course online or in tablet form. Not
anymore. Sporty's has launched a new
cross-platform course, allowing users to
work online or on their iPad, iPhone, or
Apple TV.
Having the flexibility to learn where
you want, when you want is the biggest
functional change in the new course, but
it's only one of dozens of updates to what
was already a good learning experience.
Starting in 2008, Sporty's began to reshoot
its private pilot and instrument rating
video library in high definition. Newer
segments are even in 4K. The result is
beautiful, crisp images that run seamlessly. The course interface also has been
redesigned. Instead of downloading multiple applications for Sporty's many courses,
users will go to Apple's App Store and
download the free Sporty's Pilot Training
app. From there customers can choose to
preview or purchase individual courses
that will be synced automatically for use

online through the company's training
portal. Initially the app is being launched
with Sporty's private pilot training course,
the company's ForeFlight tutorial, and a
full instrument rating course.
Inside the private pilot course,
knowledge test questions are logically
organized; videos are easy to navigate;
and segments are cleverly cross-referenced. When having problems with a
knowledge test question, for example, a
user can hit a button and automatically
be taken to the segment in the video that
covers the material. And each task in the
airman certification standards has links to
corresponding video resources. Sporty's
has big plans for the course that will further integrate functionality.
The app is free. The private pilot and
instrument rating courses are $199.99
each, and the ForeFlight course is $29.99.
All are one-time lifetime purchases, and
past customers have been grandfathered
into the new platform.
EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2018

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