Checkride or Bust

All about flying, training, pilot gear, and $100 hamburgers

Watch ABC’s Wide World of Flying Online

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Back in the 1980s, ABC produced a show on VHS tape called ABC’s Wide World of Flying. Aviation enthusiasts could subscribe to the series, and receive a new episode in the mail on a regular basis. Then future AOPA president Phil Boyer was one of the producers and regular hosts.

Other segment hosts included aviation luminaries like Barry Schiff, Bill Cox, Rod Machado, Jeff Ethell, and many others.

At some point along the way, the series’ name was changed to ABC’s Wonderful World of Flying, and it was apparently cancelled sometime in the early 1990s. Obviously, this isn’t HD video, but it’s still awesome content. And someone took the time to digitize the entire series and post it on YouTube. If you haven’t watched it yet, I definitely recommend going through a few episodes (or, if you’re like me, all of them).

Avionics have certainly progressed quite a bit since those days — the reviews of groundbreaking LORAN units aren’t that relevant anymore — but the physics of flying haven’t, and there are plenty of lessons to be learned from the series.

The closest thing we have to WWoF today would have to be the growing community of aviation YouTube channels that have been sprouting up in recent years. Hopefully those guys continue to attract viewers and sponsorship dollars so that they can keep creating fantastic flying video content.

The next time you’re stuck on the ground and you’ve already watched the latest FlightChops video, fire up this classic flying program. Just make sure you have some free time. Chances are you won’t be able to stop at one episode.

CFI Achieved!

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It’s been a very long week of flying — but I managed to earn my initial flight instructor certificate. Looking back, the amount of work I’ve put into this has been insane. Becoming a CFI is a huge commitment, but it’s even nuttier if you also have a (more than) full-time job.

(Thankfully, I have a very tolerant wife.)

With the FAA’s toughest checkride accomplished, I’m planning on being able to get back to posting here on a more regular basis, starting with some of my favorite resources for new student pilots and CFI candidates just getting started on the journey. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I need a nap…

I’ve Been a Bad Blogger…

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It’s hard to believe that I haven’t added a post to this site in two months. Bad blogger!

Between lots going on at work, buying an airplane with some friends, and going full steam ahead on my CFI training, it’s been hard to find a free moment to post anything on here — but I’ve been collecting a very long list of interesting topics to write about. I promise they’ll be coming soon. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this short video clip of a fully-developed spin in a Super Decathlon from my CFI spin endorsement training.

Enjoy, and stay tuned.

Spin Training from Checkride or Bust on Vimeo.

You Need to Subscribe to These 4 Amazing YouTube Flyers

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We can’t always be flying. Weather, money, and life often get in the way. But the good news is that, thanks to YouTube, you can virtually fly with some awesome, entertaining pilots in some amazing aircraft.

The flying content on YouTube runs the gamut — but there are a few channels that consistently put out top-notch flying videos. Today, I’ll show you four of my favorite YouTube pilots:

1. Flight Chops

I can’t talk about flying YouTubers without putting Flight Chops front and center. Steve, the man behind the chops, makes the best flying videos on the internet — and in my view, he’s one of the best GA ambassadors we have today. He’s a video editor by trade, and he’s brought that professional level of production quality to aviation videos as well.

Some of my favorite videos from his channel include this flight in a TBM 850, his awesome series on TFP’s mountain flying course (which is now on my bucket list!), and his series on learning to fly a World War II-era Stearman.

Whenever one of Steve’s videos come out, I usually save them so I can watch them on the 65″ TV in my basement — they’re just so high quality that they’re worth watching on the big screen.

I personally think that AOPA should just hand Flight Chops a big budget and let him make flying videos full-time — but in the meantime, I’m a proud supporter of his channel on Patreon.

(Note: He also runs a great monthly contest for viewers — check it out here.)

2. steveo1kinevo

Ok, onto another YouTube pilot named Steve. Steveo1kinevo is a professional pilot who flies a corporate TBM 850 as well as a Cessna Grand Caravan, with most of the flying happening down in Florida and the Bahamas — the scenery is pretty hard to beat.

Steveo1kinevo’s channel is a VLOG format, and it’s definitely fun to watch him carry out flights in that pair of very capable aircraft.

3. Guido Warnecke

Guido is commonly referred to as “the most professional pilot on YouTube”. He’s another working pilot, and his channel features everything from hard IFR in business jets to ferry and pleasure flights in single-engine Cessnas and Mooneys. He’s a great resource for watching best practices, and crew resource management.

4. Backcountry Pilot

It’s really, really hard to limit my list to only four channels. But if I’m limiting it to four, Backcountry Pilot needs to be one of them. This channel is just what it sounds like — flying in the backcountry. I’d really love to experience some real backcountry flying, camping out under the wing of a Cessna 180 with tundra tires, but in the meantime, this channel helps to scratch the itch.

These guys do a fantastic job showing the feeling of flying in the backcountry. The cinematography is utterly beautiful, and totally makes you wish you were there. Backcountry Pilot also runs a fantastic website for anyone interested in more about this amazing flavor of flying.

Do you have a favorite aviation YouTuber that I missed? Share them in the comments!

Update: Since posting this, I’ve stumbled across some more great aviation YouTube channels. Check them out here.

Clearing Up Commercial Pilot Limitations

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What the heck can a commercial pilot actually get paid for?

It’s probably one of the most misunderstood topics in aviation. Scores of commercial students — and even flight instructors — don’t fully understand the rules surrounding being a commercial pilot. But the good news is that the regs are incredibly simple.

Today, I’ll break them down for you…

Having a commercial pilot certificate gives you the ability to get hired as a professional pilot. That’s it. And hired is the operative word.

With a few exceptions, you can get any flying job except a part 121 airline gig with just a commercial certificate (you’ll need an ATP cert for the airline job).

And yet, people somehow get themselves into trouble with the FAA for running illegal charter operations. Why?

Here’s the key: there’s NO pilot certificate lets you start a charter business, and airline, or some other type of aviation operation. For those, you’ll need a separate certificate from the FAA for your business operation — a 135 certificate or 121 certificate are good examples of those.

Think about it this way: if you were a culinary school grad, you’d need a bunch of licenses and approvals to open a restaurant — that’s not a limitation of your culinary school diploma, it’s a limitation of starting a business. You can still get hired by a licensed restaurant with your credentials, but the health department isn’t going to let you start a new restaurant without that piece of paper.

The commercial pilot limitations work the same way. To “hold out” as an aviation business, you need a license for that business from the FAA.

So, if a guy owns a plane you’re qualified to fly and needs a pilot, no problem — he can hire you to fly it for him.

If a charter operation is looking for first officers, apply away!

But if you’re offering your pilot services and the aircraft to fly someone to Myrtle Beach for the weekend, you’re obviously not just a pilot anymore. Suddenly, you’re a charter operator who’s holding out without a 135 certificate.

Why is that? Put simply, the reasoning is the exact same as the health department in the example above. When you open a restaurant, the health inspectors want to see the kitchen. They want to know where you’re sourcing your parts. Likewise, the FAA’s inspectors require a higher standard from 121/135 certificate holders — they require drug testing programs, and ops manuals, and higher pilot training for folks trying to provide flights to the general public.

There are some loopholes, though.

The FAA does provide is a set of exemptions under part 119.1 that allows CPL holders to automatically operate a number of businesses without needing a charter or airline certificate. A few examples include flight instruction (for those with CFI certificates), aerial survey and photography, air tours, ferry flights, cropdusting, and banner towing.

Those aren’t limitations to your pilot certificate, they’re extra benefits you have that get you around needing a separate certificate for your business! Thanks FAA!

When teaching commercial pilot privileges and limitations, people tend to intermingle those rules with part 121.135 certificate privileges — and that ends up confusing a lot of commercial pilot students about what they can do when they get their ticket. Just think of the restaurant analogy, and you’ll be able to figure out most scenarios a DPE can dream up on a checkride.

I’ll leave this here one more time: having a commercial pilot certificate gives you the ability to get hired as a professional pilot. If you’re trying to run a business that’s not covered by the part 119.1 exemptions, then you need an airline or charter certificate from the FAA.