Sporty's Learn to Fly Course
Updated with AI, video, and more
By Elle Colbert
Sporty’s has made significant additions to its Learn to Fly course, enabling you to level up your flight training in 2026.
One of the biggest changes to the training courses is the expanded use of artificial intelligence. Sporty’s introduced ChatCFI, an AI flight instructor at your fingertips, and another AI tool that will analyze your FAA knowledge test results to build a personalized study guide for you moving forward.
Of the new additions, I was most excited to try ChatCFI. As a student pilot still struggling to grasp radio communications, I asked the platform, “What are some ways I can improve my radio communication from home?”
ChatCFI then spit out seven practice methods as well as videos, training guides, and a list of pages to reference in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM). Additionally, the AI provided direct links to the resources it recommended.
One thing to note about ChatCFI is that you are limited to 100 questions a month. Don’t spam it with questions that aren’t related to training.
Another set of helpful additions to the Learn to Fly course were new and improved video platforms. Flight Instructor Focus has been introduced to not only show you flight maneuvers from the outside of the airplane but also put you inside the cockpit alongside a CFI. Like many of you, I’m a visual learner, so, being put inside the airplane and watching how the instructor physically moves the yoke to execute the maneuver was incredibly helpful.
The other video feature that has been added is Quick-Review Video Summaries at the end of each lesson. These are perfect for a visual of what you are practicing both before entering the airplane for familiarization and after you finish a flight for review.
Sporty’s Learn to Fly course has also been updated with MOSAIC sport pilot standards. The update is reflected in both the lessons and the AI tools. For example, I asked ChatCFI, “As a sport pilot, what would be required of me to fly a seaplane?” It then provided an in-depth, accurate answer and relevant resources with links to videos, training guides, federal aviation regulations (FAR) sections, and AIM references.
Overall, the 2026 Sporty’s Learn to Fly update will raise the bar for online flight training. It’s not just a step in the right direction for getting aviators in the air, it will be making airspace safer by improving training quality as a whole.
Hey ChatCFI, how does one fly?
My experience with Sporty’s Learn to Fly course
By Tony Stagnito
With my private pilot checkride a month away, I felt it was a prudent time to refresh my memory from the knowledge exam I had taken more than a year prior. I had notes from my previous ground school, but was looking for a different company and resources to better round out my knowledge. Sporty’s Private Pilot Learn to Fly course was an easily available online option that had unique features I was admittedly skeptical of but was willing to try.
After creating an account, I found a helpful training portal that contained all features of the course on one concise webpage. What interested me most was test and checkride prep. The former were standard training aids similar to my previous ground school, although the videos contained additional resources such as prewritten notes, links to relevant cited resources, and, in some cases, interactive scenarios where I could manipulate controls or instrumentation to better understand how they function. However, the test preparation material was what I used most, including the new AI features.
Sporty’s ChatDPE works similarly to other artificial intelligence platforms but is preloaded to ask any question that can be found in the airman certification standards. It was surprisingly accurate and easy to use given the complex nature of the content, especially when considering its experimental nature and disclaimers. An example prompt it gave was, “What does ATIS stand for, and what is it used for?” and when I responded simply with “Automated Terminal Information System” it further prompted my explanation of how it functions, along with a link to Chapter 4 of the Aeronautical Information Manual where the correct answer is found. This comprehensive questioning and feedback is an experience I’ve only had with a CFI and utilizes far more critical thinking than multiple choice selections or Q&A flashcards, and at a fraction of the cost.
The AI model is not a final product nor perfect instructor. At times, it provided an irrelevant or wrong citation to its answer or would get confused by my responses and give up. That in mind, for online flight training materials, Sporty’s was successful in further preparing me for my practical examination and doing so in a more thorough and creative nature than simply selecting prewritten answers.
Tony Stagnito is a private pilot and airport operations specialist at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR).
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