Sporty's to host free webinar series on avionics and pilot training

Sporty's Pilot Shop is running a free webinar series built around the equipment pilots carry and fly behind, with sessions spread across four weeks starting Wednesday, September 30. The shop says the point is to show pilots how to get the intended benefit from gear they may already own.

The opening session covers Garmin's Axis flight displays. Luke Wickersham, a flight instructor and aviation educator at Garmin, is scheduled to walk through what the system offers, among it 3D SafeTaxi, data logging on board, the flight management system, and the various models and variants. According to the promotional material, Axis was built with safety in mind, and familiarity with the system and how it behaves is described as the way that benefit is realised.

On Wednesday, October 21, the subject shifts to autopilots. Ryan Koch, who oversees online course development at PilotWorkshops, plans to discuss habits that keep pilots ahead of modern autopilot systems, how to get the best from them, and how to notice and respond when a system does something the pilot did not ask for or expect. The listing frames an autopilot as either an aid or a distraction, depending on how well the pilot understands it.

Hand-held radios are the focus on Wednesday, November 4. Doug Ranly, described as Sporty's radio expert, will cover current hand-held aviation radios, their features, and how to choose one. The series also includes iPad flight tools, with the shop offering instruction on best practices for their use in the cockpit.