Now You Can Rent Good Aviation Training Videos

Posted on February 1st, 2009 in Videos, Blogroll by Tom

If you are like me, I have the series of books from Tony Bingelis that cover the basics of Sportplane building along with a dozen or more other books on flight instruction.  When I started working on getting my Private Pilot Certificate, the Gleim publications were a huge help.  Books and other forms of literature in print have a place and a purpose.  Video based information has an optimal purpose and a place too.  I have found in my years of training people in the workplace that a good training video helps people to absorb and comprehend a lot of information at one time.  The Sporty’s Pilot Shop and King Aviation Videos were expensive for my budget, but they were needed and watched many times.  The question came to mind if there were a way a people could simply rent aviation related training videos to save dollars.  Smartflix has a variety of aviation videos for those who are building and those who just want to learn more about flying.  SmartFlix is a service that rents video DVDs - just like your corner video store… but they specialize in the kind of videos that you can’t find on every street corner. They have videos on running lathes, welding techniques, and even building airplanes……. many cool videos that you have looked at only to think it will take time to save that kind of money up!  Rent online and get the videos shipped straight to you (with return postage included free!).

Here’s how it works:

1.      Select which videos you want to rent from the web page and then click “secure checkout”.  (Most videos are $10 per week and all of the multi-dvd sets are discounted.)

2.      The video gets mailed to you with no shipping charge.

3.      You get to watch the video for one week, then you put the video back in the cardboard mailer, stick a pre-printed return-address and return-postage label on the mailer, and drop it in the mail.  No stamps are needed!  (Example of one week rental is “If the video arrives at your address on a Wednesday, you must put it in the mail on or before the following Wednesday”).

NOTE: Many of the DVDs are DVD+R or DVD-R format. Almost all modern DVD players can play these, but you should verify that your DVD player can play the discs before renting.

Avid Amphibian in Europe

Posted on April 14th, 2008 in Videos by Tom

Here is a video of an Avid Amphibian (Catalina)   The pilot is taking two passengers (one at the time) from Barkarby airfield and dropping them off at a boat waiting near Waxholm in the Stockholm inner Archipelago.

Avid Catalina Flight Video

Posted on April 5th, 2008 in Videos by Tom

Robert Smith has his Avid Catalina out for a day of testing amphibious operations.  I’ve seen this plane up close and talked to the builder.  The cabin was modified for a center bar hinged pair of gull wing hatches.  The wings are clipped too.  Rob put a lot of TLC into getting it’s performance to be exceptional.   Originally, this kit was designed for the Rotax 582, but this yellow duck has a Rotax 100 HP 912UL.  Unfortunately, the Catalina kits are no longer produced.  I’m not losing hope that the day will come when the kits are being manufactured again.  Once in a while you will see a previously owned one for sale on the aviation classified websites like Barnstormmers or Ebay Motors.  Great job though, Rob!  Makes me want to go out to the garage and get mine flying! 

Interesting Video of Kitfox on Full Lotus Floats

Posted on March 23rd, 2008 in Videos by Tom

If your considering floats someday, take a look at this video.  Simply amazing!

Avid Aircraft Flying

Posted on March 23rd, 2008 in Videos by Tom

Ten minutes of flying various models that Avid Aircraft offered.  Check out the Airdaleflyer.com site for information on these tube and rag designs.  All Avid Models have a similar makeup with 4130 Moly tube frame covered with fabric.  Wings have metal tube spars and wood ribs covered with fabric. 

Fisher Classic Wood Biplane First Flight

Posted on March 22nd, 2008 in Videos by Tom

 A new video showing the first flight of a Fisher Classic Homebuilt Wood Biplane.  Fisher Flying Products has a full line of wood and fabric models to choose from.  Cabins are generally plywood glued to wood structure.  Geodetic wings are lightweight and extremely strong.  For a look at specs and performance of this little beauty, go to http://www.fisherflying.com/fleet/TheClassic/.  For a close look at what your Fisher Project may look like in progress, see the Fisher Horizon 1 pictures posted on the Gallery Page of this site. 

Landing with the Gear Up

Posted on March 22nd, 2008 in Videos by Tom

I was impressed by the superb job this pilot did when faced with having to land this twin turboprop on it’s belly.  Just a little sidestep from the main theme of this site, but well worth watching just to see how important it is to keep our heads on straight when faced with a major dilemna.


Emergency Landing Without Gear - video powered by Metacafe

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