Paul Jurgens
Paul Jurgens is a Chief Instructor at Sporty's Academy. He holds a multiengine ATP certificate with a Cessna Citation type rating along with commercial privileges in single-engine land and sea airplanes, gliders, and hot air balloons. Chief Jurgens holds instructor ratings for single & multiengine airplanes, instrument airplanes, & gliders. He also has instructing privileges in hot air balloons by virtue of his commercial certificate.
Become a Part of the Community
Congratulations, you are either on your way or about to get started on your journey to becoming a pilot. As you begin this adventure,...
Common Aircraft Fuel Myths
There are a number of fuel related myths and misrepresentations floating around the general aviation industry. While I can't touch them all, I hope to provide some enlightenment around a couple of them in this post.
Back to Basics – Weight and Balance
A recent news story told the tale of an aircraft accident where six adults had loaded themselves into a single engine Piper and taken...
FAA announces complex aircraft change
As you may have heard, earlier this week the FAA announced a policy change that went into effect on Tuesday, 4/26/2018, which eliminates the...
Still More Out with the Old, In with the New
Over the last few years, I have written a couple of posts about the demise of old weather products and the introduction of their...
Legacy Navigation Systems
Today, many pilots navigate using GPS as their primary navigation source. There are older navigation systems such as NDB and VOR that continue to have a place in today's National Airspace System (NAS) but whose prominence is beginning to fade. I am calling these legacy navigation systems and the point of this post is to explain what is happening to them.
Is WINGS the Answer?
First, I would like to say that I think that the FAA WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program is a wonderful and valuable resource. It...
The Last of the “Old Written” ATPs
Back in July of 2013, the FAA implemented a new set of rules for the multiengine ATP. July, 2014, was the last month to...
Student Pilot and FAA Medical Certificates
As a student pilot, you will need a Student Pilot Certificate at some point during your flight training program. When you will need the student certificate will vary based upon the type of training that you are doing.
You may also need an FAA Medical Certificate. The type of medical certificate you should obtain, if you should obtain one at all, depends on your flight training goals.
Learn more in this post by Sporty's Academy Chief Instructor Jurgens.
What’s Up with the Student Pilot Certificate?
In the middle of January, stories began to trickle out that the FAA had published a new set of rules about changes to the student pilot certificate. With an implementation date indicated as April 1st, 2016, and no notice that we could recall here at Sporty's Academy, we thought that it might be an April Fools prank. It was few days later that the notice of a final rule finally appeared on the FAA's Recently Published Rulemaking site and we found out that it was true.
