New Features In Sporty‘s Learn to Fly, Instrument Courses

With the launch of its 2020 video courses for new pilots and for those seeking an instrument rating, Sporty's has answered the question we've asked ourselves so many times before: What more could they possibly do to make these courses better? The answer, once again is, "Plenty." The courses sell for $249 each, and while that might sound like a lot, there's a lot of value here. You can access the courses regardless of what device you're on---if you're like us, you'll use three or four different devices on any given day---and each one syncs your progress. If you were halfway through a video on your desktop, you'll be halfway through on your iPhone, as well.

One thing we love about these courses is that you get the latest updates to the regs and new content to address new technologies, like glass cockpits, iPads, new mobile weather products and even ADS-B, none of which existed in our world even 15 years ago. With old media, updates were usually painful though infrequent. Today, Sporty's can update content on the fly if, for instance, a new regulation comes into being. Try that with a VHS tape.

And they've made the courses work for pilots like never before, too, recognizing the importance of test prep today, when the FAA's questions aren't really known. The courses' new test prep utility allows you to tailor your test-taking needs by making it easy to, again, work across platforms without losing your place, or your progress, and to create your own customized quizzes based on questions you have trouble with (for some of us, that's all of them!) or even ones that you've marked as being confusing. It will even remember which ones you've missed for later review, even figuring out for you which weaker areas you might need to hit the digital books on.

We also love the checkride prep utility, which gives you practice for the oral, which is often the toughest part of an FAA exam.

And you can now watch the courses on Sporty's Roku channel or via Chromecast for that big screen experience.

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more delivered straight to you!

Other new features include customizable flashcards, downloadable video review notes for digging deeper into turns around a point or understanding the difference between short- and soft-field takeoffs.

There's even a checklist to be sure you bring everything with you that you need to take your checkride, which could save you both embarrassment and money.

One feature that's worthy of note is that Sporty's courses are lifetime purchases, so if you get the instrument course this year and in five-years you want to brush up, you still own the course, and not the one you purchased way back when but the latest and greatest without spending an additional penny.

For more on the new courses, visit sportys.com.

Plane & PilotStaff