The commercial pilot rating is an odd duck. Some call it a glorified private pilot’s rating, but it’s much more than that. At the same time, it requires far less than a pilot will need to know to actually be a commercial pilot. How to bridge that gap? Read on.
Sporty’s has launched a new Commercial Pilot course that uses the same upgraded platform as its two previous new courses, the Private Pilot and the Instrument Pilot courses. All three use all high-definition video, a new, easy-on-the-eyes, intuitive user interface, and all three are viewable on any of, well, we’ve lost count of how many platforms, but chances are, if you can plug it in and get to the internet, you can do your Sporty’s courses there.
The company has, of course, had a commercial study guide for decades. I used it when I did my commercial written and to prepare for my commercial ground portion of the practical test, and it was terrific. That said, there is zero comparison between it and today’s commercial pilot course.
Off the bat, today’s course goes through the maneuvers, most of which are unique to the Commercial certificate. And the new Sporty’s course has not only video, but terrific video, using high-definition GoPro cameras, with as many as six mounted on the outside of the aircraft along with cams on the interior, as well, and with studio lighting. It’s Hollywood-level slick. So if you’re looking to really understand not only what the maneuvers are, which is a lot when you get into the turns and banks of it, but also how to fly them, this course is far and away the best in the world. Then again, the same is true for its Private and Instrument rating courses.
And to get back to my original point, this course goes beyond the knowledge and practical test,s and focuses on real world flying, too. For most, not all, commercial pilots, that means knowing your systems, which means getting to know your electronics. One big difference between today’s Commercial ACS and the one in place when I did my rating in the mid-’90s is that you can do it in a technologically advanced aircraft (TAA), and that TAA doesn’t have to be a retractable gear or three-lever power quadrant model, either. So being proficient using your flight instrumentation and other related systems is critical, and this new course goes deeply into all of that.
Practically speaking, you get a lot for the investment, as the Commercial course also has sections on RVSM and High-Altitude endorsements, required in all practicality for anyone who flies jets for a living. So those courses, which other providers charge for separately, are included here for no extra charge.
The course is available for the iPhone and iPad, for Android devices, for Apple TV and Roku, as well as over the web. And it knows your progress, so you can jump from any platform to the next without skipping a beat.
The cost is $249 for lifetime access, so as the course gets updates and improvements, you get those for free, too. For more information and to get the course, or any of the company’s other courses, visit sportys.com.
Read up on our previous coverage of Sporty’s Private course here, and their Instrument Rating course here.
