Ground instruction, in person or online

A surprising amount of Cirrus proficiency is built on the ground. These sessions are scheduled around your calendar and run in person at the airport or over video.

Avionics sessions

Perspective, Perspective+ and Perspective Touch+ walk-throughs: flight-plan editing, vertical navigation, autopilot modes, approach loading and activation, the checklists, and the failure modes. Done with the Garmin trainer software or in your own airplane on the ground with external power.

Written-test prep

Instrument, commercial, and the knowledge tests in general. I would rather you understand the material than memorize the bank, and the sessions are built that way.

Planning and weather

How to brief a real trip from San Diego: the marine layer, Santa Ana winds, mountain passes to Las Vegas and Phoenix, icing in the winter at altitude in a turbo, and the decision to go or not go.

Scenario sessions

Tabletop and simulator-style scenario work: a rough-running engine over the desert, an electrical failure at night, a CAPS decision. Cheap, repeatable, and the most valuable hour you will spend on the ground.