Took 5 years of blood, sweat and tears, but here we are!

Standby for details on my Garmin 430 sim giveaway – ideally join the Flight Chops mailing list so you get the news when we implement the plan to execute that.

Thanks to ALL the mentors that have helmed me along the way. For this video, I want to shout out Dennis Simo and Jason Miller from TFP.

Dennis runs Next Level Flight Training (NLFT) of Milton, Ontario,  providing flight training for various licences and aircraft types.  NLFT’s mission is to help make your experience as a pilot safer, more efficient, and more fun.  New planes, new places, and new ratings are just around the corner.  Contact us now to take your skills to the next level. 

Jason from TFP has been an inspiration since before I started Flight Chops. I was listening to his pod cast in 2008 when I wasn’t even current at the time! Here’s the link to the episode that he was inspired to make after talking to me while I was planning this IFR flight test debrief episode. 

The post Instrument Rated! How I FINALLY passed the Flight Test! appeared first on Flight Chops.

Can’t wait to hear which one of you gets the panel, and how you set it up!

In this episode, Flight Chops does a deep dive into the world of custom home flight simulation and is blown away by how realistic the experience is. During the end-to-end setup process of building this next level IFR Home Simulator, which anyone can replicate, all the steps are covered:

Flight Simulation partners I couldn’t have done this without:

Stay Level Avionix 

RealSimGear 

PilotEdge 

And of course Flight Sim Expo! 

We’re giving away a Home Flight Simulator! 

Check it out here!

The post Pilots building Home Flight Simulator Setup I dreamt of as a kid + Giving one away! appeared first on Flight Chops.

Who’s going to Sun n Fun 2019?  

For any of you who are not familiar with this event:

One of the biggest air shows in the country, and their biggest fundraiser for the education programs of the Aerospace Center for Excellence! See modern jets, classic warbirds, homebuilt aircraft, plus hundreds of vendors, workshops, forums and more! Check out all the details at www.flysnf.org

Booth Appearances / Meet n’ Greet Schedule:

The main scheduled things that I am doing this year:

UPDATED: For the first time, I will be at the VAN’S AIRCRAFT BOOTH to meet viewers!

DATE: THURSDAY APRIL 4th

TIME: 1-2 PM

LOCATION: Van’s Aircraft Booth – NE-012, NE-013 (*best efforts were made for accuracy but please check the event directory to confirm booth location*)

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Next up — with Jason Miller from The Finer Points! — is a booth meet up at FOREFLIGHT

DATE: FRIDAY APRIL 5th

TIME: 1-2 PM

LOCATION: ForeFlight Booth — Hangar C-092 (*best efforts were made for accuracy but please check the event directory to confirm booth location*)

Anyone I meet gets an official Flight Chops sticker, and if you’re a Patreon supporter at any level, please let me know and I’ll give you a Flight Suit Patch too! 

(Note: The patches normally reserved for the $5+ supporters, but I’m happy to hand one to you as it saves me the shipping ? ) 

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P.S. if you haven’t yet checked out this episode I highly recommend it. 

Julie is just amazing — and this is her final flying season.  You should not miss her final shows!!

https://flightchops.com/2019/03/15/how-julie-clark-flies-her-airshow-11000-hours-in-the-t-34-shes-a-master-pilot-photos/

Julie’s Airshow Dates at Sun n’ Fun:

Wednesday, April 3

Thursday, April 4

Saturday, April 6

UPDATED: MEET JULIE IN PERSON AT THE TEMPEST BOOTH ON THURSDAY APRIL 4TH AT NOON!  C-080, C-081, C-082 (*best efforts were made for accuracy but please check the event directory to confirm booth location*)

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I hope to see you there!

(Sun n’ Fun Graphic Image courtesy of Sun n’ Fun Fly-In and Expo)

The post Where to Meet Flight Chops at Sun n’ Fun 2019 | #SNF19 (Updated) appeared first on Flight Chops.

Julie has logged 11,000 hours flying the T-34 alone! 

Here’s where you can see Julie!  This is the final season to see her fly.  Please help me share this one far and wide!

And thanks to Jason from TFP for setting this up, and definitely check out his episode about Julie’s back story!

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Photos

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Looking for more aerobatics-related content? 

Check out what we’ve got here.

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Right now, we’re giving away a flight in the Extra 300!

Click the image to check it out!

The post How Julie Clark flies her AirShow – 11,000 hours in the T-34 – she’s a master pilot! (+PHOTOS!) appeared first on Flight Chops.

Taxiing the plane right to Julie’s house was Weird and Awesome!

Here is where to learn more about The Finer Points of Flying – Jason Miller

Episodes featuring Julie are coming soon!

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Looking for more IFR-related content? 

Check out what we’ve got using this tag.

The post Cessna Landing in a Neighborhood, Challenging Class B Airspace – NorCal Flying! appeared first on Flight Chops.

Welp… Let’s do this? I gotta beat this IFR thing…

I really appreciate Jason from The Finer Points, being a part of my journey – he’s got an amazing podcast and is now making YouTube videos regularly too. Definitely check his stuff if you’re not already familiar!

The Finer Points of Flying Podcast

On The Flight Line (The Finer Points Youtube Channel)

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This was shared on Patreon:

Glad I don’t have to do this alone…

Hey everyone, 

It’s been a crazy year, lots of successes, but one ongoing sort of dragged out failure that has been in the back of my mind… what am I doing about the Instrument Rating – am I really going to let that beat me? 

It is hard to put into words the feeling of seeing all the support that was shared via the comments on YouTube when I published this the other day. 

I considered not making it a paid post here, but I actually did work a lot harder than I meant to on the editing, so it is legit… That said, going forward, the plan is to NOT work hard on editing these “IFR status vlogs”.  The energy needs to go toward the test prep and training.  

Most of these will include flying like this one… But I am also thinking some will be sharing the less exciting parts of the IFR training / test prep, like sitting in Osama’s kitchen and going over sample test questions; maybe I’ll boil down some of the best learning moments or written test prep things that I am having trouble with.  Would you want to see “IFR status vlogs” that don’t include flying footage?  I’ll still be sure to edit them in a way that doesn’t feel like watching paint dry. 

All that said, I rarely publish anything that I didn’t work harder on than I should have :P. 

Why don’t we put it to a poll – should these vlogs (which will be public) be paid or free posts here?  At most it will bring me to 4 monthly paid posts (like a regular episode every 2nd Friday, and one of these every 2nd Wednesday or so).

Thanks again for the support – This is a weird sort of personal journey that I am on, in a very public way – but it really seems to be resonating with the community and encouraging others – so despite being really hard, the whole thing is also very rewarding.

Steve

Watch more content related to Jason Miller:

Jason Miller

TFP (The Finer Points)

Watch more content related to Osama:

Flying with Osama

The post Mostly not SCREWING UP radio work – TBM 850 – IFR Status VLOG #1 appeared first on Flight Chops.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

Welcome to North America’s newest annual flight simulation and aviation conference. FlightSimExpo connects simmers, developers, exhibitors, and real-world aviators from across the globe. Join us in Las Vegas on June 9-10, to meet others who share your passion, learn from experts, and try out simulators.

This event is designed to bring flight simulation conferences to cities across the United States. The journey begins in 2018 in Las Vegas with easy international and domestic flight options, discounted hotel rooms, and plenty of activities before, during, and after the event for families and attendees of all ages. Created by simmers and developers, FlightSimExpo is the only community-created and driven flight simulation conference in North America.

Steve “Flight Chops” Thorne will be speaking with Jason Miller from The Finer Points of Flying on Saturday June 9!

WHERE:  Flamingo Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 

WHEN: JUNE 9 2018, 1:45-2:45PM

TO REGISTER: Event Registration Link

So stoked to be part of this event!

We hope to see you there!

The post Flight Chops Speaking at FlightSim Expo 2018 in Las Vegas! appeared first on Flight Chops.

Who’s going to “Sun n Fun”?  

For any who don’t yet know:

One of the biggest air shows in the country, and our biggest fundraiser for the education programs of the Aerospace Center for Excellence! See modern jets, classic warbirds, homebuilt aircraft, plus hundreds of vendors, workshops, forums and more! Check out all the details at www.flysnf.org

Booth Appearance / Meet n’ Greet

The main scheduled thing that I am doing this year is a booth meet up at ForeFlight

DATE: SATURDAY 4/14

TIME: 12-NOON

LOCATION: ForeFlight Hangar C-092

Anyone I meet gets an official Flight Chops sticker, and if you’re a Patreon supporter at any level, please let me know and I’ll give you a Flight Suit Patch too! 

(Note: The patches normally reserved for the $5+ supporters, but I’m happy to hand one to you as it saves me the shipping ) 

Why only 1 Meet n’ Greet, you ask?

Part of the reason I’m being more low-key this year is because I am bringing my 8 year-old daughter Evelyn. 

She’ll be hanging with her buddy Elena (my fave California CFI Jason Miller’s daughter who’s also Evy’s age). 

The last time we had these young ladies together, we nearly broke the internet with a super cute episode where we surprised them with a flight to Disneyland in a DA42. 

https://flightchops.com/2017/09/21/pilot-dads-flying-daughters-to-disneyland-in-da42-engine-failure-training-flight-vlog/

This year we have some pretty inspiring production plans as well. 

The girls will be meeting Julie Clark before she flies her routine!

It should be fun to see their reaction when the see an unassuming woman whom they might relate to as a sort of grandma figure, take to the skies for a mind-blowing low level aerobatic display. 

I think is super important to get young people inspired about aviation, and to also make it clear to young girls that they are welcome here despite this niche being currently approx. 95% male-dominated. 

I hope to see you there  

Drop me a message below if you’re going!

Or, ping me on Twitter or Instagram while at the event!

(Sun n’ Fun Graphic Image courtesy of Sun n’ Fun Fly-In and Expo)

The post Where to Meet Flight Chops at Sun n’ Fun 2018 | #SNF18 appeared first on Flight Chops.

Instrument Flying – Multi Tasking is a muscle that you can make stronger!

IFR training has been a long and slow journey for me, but this sort of skill building mission reminded me that even after I get the rating, I am going to want to do things like this (with a CFI or safety pilot) to keep my skills sharp.

Huge thanks to Jason Miller for being willing to share this awesome training. Please give him some love and subscribe to his Youtube channel: The Finer Points

And an extra shout out to CloudAhoy for being a big part of helping to tell this fairly complicated story. Their link is below as they have been a long time supportive sponsor, but here it is again up here – absolutely the best flight debriefing tool available!

Looking for more IFR-related content? 

Check out what we’ve got using this tag.

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Huge thanks to all the Supporters on Patreon!

Productions like this wouldn’t be possible without your help! For those that haven’t seen it, please check the Flight Chops Patreon page to find out how you can be a part of it! 

There are over 3 dozen “exclusive content” links available now, and many are related to IFR flying already posted on the feed… 

The easiest way to find them is to go to the “Posts” tab, and then click the “Patron Only” button on the left (under the “type” of post). 

This is the link to the “Patrons Only” tab; it should take you to the nearly 3 dozen exclusive posts. 

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Learn all about Our Sponsors who help keep Flight Chops in the air!

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We host a new Giveaway EVERY month of aviation-related prizes from all our sponsors!  Check out the current giveaway on the Monthly Contest page!

If you enjoyed this episode, check out these related episodes!

https://flightchops.com/2015/02/05/ifr-training-holding-with-51-knot-wind-pov-flying-atc-audio/

https://flightchops.com/2016/10/14/ifr-approaches-to-minimums-marine-layer-fog-california-flight-training-vlog-norcal-atc-audio/

https://flightchops.com/2016/11/24/why-are-pilots-afraid-of-atc-flying-ifr-with-a-controller-to-find-out-mooney-m20j-vlog/

The post IFR – Pushing my Limits – Flight Training VLOG (+PHOTOS) appeared first on Flight Chops.

More Adventure Training with the Finer Points of Flying!

Unexpected challenges on this trip were wild fire smoke, and high winds (that ultimately blew away the wild fire smoke) – so all in all, it was great learning 

Huge thanks to CubCrafters for the CarbonCub FX, and to Patrick for training me – to learn more about them visit: http://cubcrafters.com

Checkout Patrick’s Backcountry Aviation STOL tips YouTube channel.

Patrick does amazing seminars too, please bookmark this page for future!

See dozens of photos from this trip!

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Huge thanks to all the Supporters on Patreon!

Productions like this wouldn’t be possible without your help! For those that haven’t seen it, please check the Flight Chops Patreon page to find out how you can be a part of it! 

For Patreon-only content related to this episode, please visit: https://www.patreon.com/posts/3-second-take-ss-7821225 

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Learn all about Our Sponsors who help keep Flight Chops in the air!

Shout out to Bose, Foreflight and TFP in this episode!

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We host a new Giveaway EVERY month of aviation-related prizes from all our sponsors!  Check out the current giveaway on the Monthly Contest page!

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If you enjoyed this episode, check out these related episodes:

My Hardest Crosswind Landing: Flying 3 CubCrafters With The Pilot Who Knows Them Best – Flight VLOG

Survival after Forced Landing – California Mountain Flying Training – ATC Audio

Why I Fly – Solo Sign Off! Chasing childhood Dreams – DHC-1 Chipmunk training VLOG – Part 4

The post Flying Over Water + International Border Ops: Scenario based Flight Training VLOG appeared first on Flight Chops.