Mike is to speak at the Redbird Migration Flight Training Conference in March.

Redbird Migration will be March 2-3 in Lakeland, Fl. The event format includes morning and lunch keynote speakers, along with breakout sessions that attendees can attend between sessions. The breakout sessions are an hour. There are several breakout sessions each hour. 

Mike will present “How to Teach the Hard Parts in Initial CFI Training”. The three areas of focus will be.

• Teaching the fundamentals of instructing.

• Using Scenarios and Flowcharts to teach ratings and endorsements. 

• Teaching the same lesson at different levels and to different learners. 

We plan to present this as a “Bonus”, Power Hour broadcast live from the event. They haven’t yet assigned a date and time for Mike's presentation. We will send out an email once we have a firm date and time. The date will either be March 2nd or 3rd. 

If you are planning to attend, check out Redbird Migrations' website. 

Online Ground Instruction Available at CFI Bootcamp

We’ve officially launched “Online Ground Instruction” for pilots at all stages.

CFI Bootcamp has always been heavily focused on pushing the boundaries of technology and leading the way in driving change within the industry. Students should be able to access premier instruction from anywhere.

Online Ground Instruction is live, instructor-led ground. Not pre-recorded lessons or your typical random YouTube videos. You now have access to work with an authorized Bootcamp CFI to clarify concepts, prep for checkrides, and or fill in knowledge gaps you may be struggling with. Many of our students have used, and continue to use, this service to ensure they are “Poised” before arriving at one of our 7 CFI Ground Schools. You can learn more by clicking the links above. 

Now Enrolling: Remote Private Pilot Ground School

For those who know someone at the very beginning of their flight training, we’ve also expanded our offerings with a “Remote Private Ground School” program. This program is designed specifically for student pilots who want structured, instructor-led ground training from day one.

This course is offered remotely, directly after our Power Hour Lessons, and is structured in 8-week segments. The first “Remote Private Pilot Ground School” will be held on March 7th 2026 to April 25th 2026. We are only opening the initial PPL ground school to 15 learners, so be sure to send this to someone you think would benefit. If you’d like to register now, you can do so by registering through our website.

Class starts March 7th at 1:30 pm ET and will run for roughly 75-90minutes via Zoom.

IFR Smart Study Pro - Recently Released! Over the past year, we’ve been developing audio-focused checkride prep based on the exact line items in each ACS for CFI, Private, and now Instrument applicants. IFR Smart Study Pro breaks the Instrument ACS into clear, task-based study sections to help you understand IFR concepts. Just as with our other Smart Study Pro courses, it has been proctored by a former FAA and CAA examiner, giving you access to exactly what you should be focusing on. The course is embedded with task-specific companion guides and audio-accessible files for easy on-the-go learning. We are offering a 25% discount to our newsletter subscribers. As always, if you have any comments and or find errors, we’d love to hear from you. info@cfibootcamp.com  How a Localizer works differently from a VOR

Did you know that a localizer has nothing in common with a VOR in how the receiver determines how far right or left of course you are? The CDI shows angular displacement from either the radial you have selected, if using a VOR, or the Localizer course. 

The VOR emits two signals. One is the magnetic reference signal, and the other is a sweep signal. The vIR station has either a mechanical rotating antenna or an electronic version. When the signal from the antenna sweeps across the VOR antenna on the airplane, both the magnetic north info and the time since the station's antenna passed magnetic north are included. This then is the radial you are on. The indicator can display the angular difference between the radial you are on and the radial or course selected at the top of the indicator within 20 degrees. 

A Localizer is a signal emitted by a group of antennas at the departure end of a runway. It emits a highly directional signal to the left of the centerline and another to the right of the centerline. The two signals overlap slightly on the centerline. The left and right signals have different tones. One is 90 Hz, and the other is 150 hz. These are in the audio spectrum and can be heard. Fortunately, we don’t need to hear the tones to fly a localizer, but your receiver uses them to process the CDI.

If you are using an HSI (horizontal situation indicator), the localizer course must be at the top of the instrument. If flying a back course, set it at the top. If you get that backwards, for example, when flying the front course and you have the back course at the top, the HSI will reverse sense.

I will have an article on how to use the HSI in another newsletter. In one newsletter this year, we will focus on IFR. 

Chandelles - A few things you may not have been taught

Most CFIs teach to bank 30 degrees, begin pitching, and add full power in a fixed-pitch propeller airplane. The Airplane Flying Handbook doesn’t say “full power”. It says maximum allowable power. This is because you may exceed the redline on the tach when you add full power. You should add power as the airplane is pitched. As the pitch continues, depending on the altitude, it may be possible to reach full throttle without exceeding the redline.

Another thing that rarely gets taught is when rolling out of a Chandelle initially started to the right or left, which requires the least Amount of right rudder?  It is when rolling out of a Chandelle performed to the right. 

The reason is that during the rollout, you need to apply left aileron to level the wings after a right turn. When you apply left aileron, you roll left but also create adverse yaw to the right. Adverse yaw is opposite to the direction of the left-turning tendencies, which causes the amount of right rudder needed to be less. 

Rolling out from a Chandelle to the left requires you to use aileron to the right. This causes the adverse yaw to be in the same direction as the left-turning tendencies. This will require more right rudder than the roll out of the right Chandelle.

ProTips

1. To determine the heading that stops you from Drifting on either a VOR or Localizer, use the “Bracketing.” Technique. Turn to an approximate intercept heading that causes the CDI to start correcting once the needle centers turn back towards the initial heading, but not all the way. See if the needle diverges again. If so, turn back to the heading that worked to bring it back. Once centered, turn again towards the last heading you tried and see that holds the needle. If not, repeat in sequence, making smaller and smaller heading changes until you find the heading that keeps the CDI centered. 

2. To fly the glideslope, always use the elevator to adjust the plane's flight path and maintain the glideslope. Use the throttle to adjust or maintain the airspeed. Using the throttle to maintain the glideslope won’t work in a heavy airplane or in an airplane that has an engine or engines above the center of gravity of the airplane. In those cases, applying power causes a nose-down pitching moment. 

3. You can approximate your sill distance to the runway if you are flying a 3° glide path. Most normal approaches in VFR are 3°s, as are most glide slopes (3.2 maybe, but not enough to matter). If you are on the glidepath and your altitude is 300 feet AGL, then you are one mile from the airport. You can use any multiple of this 300 ft/mile. For example, if you are 2 miles from the airport, you will be 600 ft AGL.