8 Flight Training Experiences to Make You a Better Pilot with Dr. Catherine Cavagnaro + GA News

Max talks with Dr. Catherine Cavagnaro about the value of advanced flight training and aviation experiences. Catherine shares her family tradition of gifting adventures instead of physical items, often involving flights to places like Fredericksburg, Texas, or Ireland, blending fun, learning, and aviation. https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/product/zulu-3-anr-headset/?campaign=Zulu%203&ref=63 They discuss using flight training as a “gift to oneself,” encouraging pilots to pursue new ratings or specialized courses to improve skills. Catherine highlights the instrument rating for enhancing precision and multitasking, and the commercial rating for smoothing out flying and improving passenger comfort. She advocates for specialized training like spin training to build stall confidence, mountain flying for high-terrain safety, tailwheel training for better rudder control, and quick, rewarding ratings like seaplane flying. Catherine emphasizes the importance of real IFR training, which focuses on enroute and departure procedures rather than just approaches, helping pilots confidently use their aircraft for travel. Both also stress the need for advanced avionics training to master modern glass cockpits, improving safety and proficiency. The episode inspires pilots to embrace continuous learning, specialize in skills, and have fun while becoming safer, more capable aviators. Many of these experiences can count toward a flight review. If you're getting value from this show, please support the show via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or Patreon. Support the Show by buying a Lightspeed ANR Headsets Max has been using only Lightspeed headsets for nearly 25 years! I love their tradeup program that let's you trade in an older Lightspeed headset for a newer model. Start with one of the links below, and Lightspeed will pay a referral fee to support Aviation News Talk. Lightspeed Delta Zulu Headset $1199 Lightspeed Zulu 3 Headset $899 Lightspeed Sierra Headset $699 My Review on the Lightspeed Delta Zulu Send us your feedback or comments via email If you have a question you’d like answered on the show, let listeners hear you ask the question, by recording your listener question using your phone. News Stories Two confirmed dead in Kamaka Airlines crash 737 Landed At Long Beach While DA40 on the Runway FBI: Pilots of aircraft misidentified as drones hit by lasers FAA Institutes Multiple TFRs In Response To NJ Drones New Policy on medical deferrals might not affect BasicMed privileges. Twin crashes after running out of fuel Student pilot loses control during engine start Border Patrol Helicopter Down In California, Pilot Killed Pilot Convicted Of Criminal Charges In Fatal Australian Crash Mentioned on the Show Video of Week: Dash cam view of Twin crashing landing on road #156 Atlas Air 3591 Accident - Somatogravic Illusion Humidity Article by CFI Alan Davis Humidity & Density Altitude Calculator AV8RGear.com Backpack Deal – $99.50 with promo code MAX IFR Training Trips with Doug Stewart - NY area West Coast IFR Training Trips with Field Morey Free Index to the first 282 episodes of Aviation New Talk So You Want To Learn to Fly or Buy a Cirrus seminars Online Version of the Seminar Coming Soon – Register for Notification Check out our recommended ADS-B receivers, and order one for yourself. Yes, we’ll make a couple of dollars if you do. Get the Free Aviation News Talk app for iOS or Android. Check out Max’s Online Courses: G1000 VFR, G1000 IFR, and Flying WAAS & GPS Approaches. Find them all at: https://www.pilotlearning.com/ Social Media Like Aviation News Talk podcast on Facebook Follow Max on Instagram Follow Max on Twitter Listen to all Aviation News Talk podcasts on YouTube or YouTube Premium "Go Around" song used by permission of Ken Dravis; you can buy his music at kendravis.com If you purchase a product through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.