Boost confidence, proficiency with 'Private Pilot: The Missing Lessons'

In a series of 36 videos patterned after PilotWorkshops’ popular program for instrument pilots, the new program offers “valuable lessons that are often overlooked, glossed over or not fully explained during Private Pilot training,” the company said in a May 11 news release.

Topics covered in the series—which makes a pilot eligible for six FAA Wings program credits on completion—include flight planning, communications, weather, night flying, and long-range VFR trips, with an emphasis on using the most modern technological resources available to general aviation pilots.

“There are so many aspects of VFR flying that can’t possibly be covered in primary training. These Missing Lessons demonstrate powerful tools and techniques that help any private pilot achieve a higher level of comfort and proficiency,” said Mark Robidoux, founder of PilotWorkshops, an AOPA Premier Partner.

From basic aircraft control to using aviation technology and resources such as GPS, the autopilot, and ForeFlight, each video presents its topic using a show-and-do method to teach a technique or procedure, and demonstrates the technique in a simulated flight that includes live air traffic control. You will apply your knowledge of communications to a flight through complicated airspace, or challenge yourself to apply what you learned to an after-hours night flight in mountainous terrain, or get a new perspective on the kind of marginal VFR conditions that would make any inexperienced pilot uneasy.

Learn how to prepare for a truly long cross-country (700 miles) armed with the kind of advance weather information a pilot would examine starting days before a long flight.

And speaking of planning, learn how challenging airports, such as those with tricky terrain or with nonstandard features, pull private pilots out of their comfort zone and demand more upfront planning.

Although many of the skills presented in Private Pilot: The Missing Lessons go beyond those that were required to pass your checkride, PilotWorkshops believes the course “covers the things you wish someone had explained completely in the first place … the things that can make the difference between struggling, and flying with confidence … the things that make it easier to fly with modern tools and in complex airspace.”

Private Pilot: The Missing Lessons is available for instant online access on a secure, password-protected website, or for online access with the course material also provided on a USB flash drive.

The course website has a simple menu structure so you can easily find the segment you want to watch and start it with the click of a button. Videos may be viewed on Windows PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android devices.

For more information and to view sample videos, visit the PilotWorkshops website.