Latest SPC Episodes

How do you record your flight lessons? Nick, a listener in Houston, asked me the same question I got in 2009, so I flew with six recorders running at once, then tested five cables on the ground to find out what actually works in 2026.We start with why it matters: in the moment you hear...

Your logbook knows you flew. It has no idea what you learned. In this Briefing Room episode: five questions to ask after every flight (Surprise, Workload, Skill, Decision, and Goal), where the self-debrief came from (FITS and learner-centered grading), and a simple system to capture your goal, bridge it into your next flight, and close...

At AirVenture 2026 I sat down with Adriana, founder of FlyORKA, expecting an app demo. I walked away with a line I haven’t been able to shake: logging is not learning. Adriana spent her career as a flight test engineer, learning to fly airplanes nobody had flown before. That path led her into gliders, tailwheel,...

At AirVenture this year I sat down in the Cirrus compound with Eamon Powers, the Director of Cirrus Approach — the man who owns every piece of training content Cirrus produces, for pilots and for mechanics. Twelve or fourteen years ago the fatal accident rate in the Cirrus fleet was, being generous, unremarkable, and there...

In episode 94 of the Student Pilot Cast, Bill recounts an unplanned start to AirVenture 2026 after the engine in his Jabiru quit over far southeastern Colorado on July 18, forcing an off-airport landing in a cornfield with his son Trey; both were unhurt and the airplane remains repairable with minor gear damage and an...