Flight Schools

A commercial flight school student from Egypt is in jail in California after he posted what immigration officials perceive as a threat to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. It appears the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department is intent on deporting Emadeldin Elsayed for the Facebook post even though there was not enough evidence to charge […]

Perhaps one of the most popular flight schools in the U.S. to earn a single-engine seaplane rating, Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base in Winter Haven, Florida, has trained nearly 20,000 pilots. To find out what the draw is all about, Aviation Consumer editor Larry Anglisano recently enrolled in Brown’s $1,400 SES course and had his cameras […]

Viking, a Canadian company that has been building brand-new Twin Otters for a few years now, this week introduced a new variation, the 400S Seaplane, at the Singapore Airshow. While the twin was previously available with optional floats, the 400S is optimized for water-based operations, with corrosion-resistant packages for the airframe, powerplant and fuel system. […]

A bill that would cap flight-training benefits for veterans at $20,235 should be scrapped, seven GA advocacy groups told Congress in a letter (PDF) issued today. “This legislation would effectively put flying careers out of reach for many vets,” said Jim Coon, AOPA spokesman for government affairs. “There are great jobs in aviation, and our […]

I was attending a Wings safety seminar recently and the 1995 American Airlines crash in Colombia was discussed, including the video American Airlines made two years after the fact. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a click. In this compelling video, the speaker says the words that I believe have subtly, but profoundly, influenced […]

Cessna Aircraft launched the second year of its Top Hawk university program, announcing this week its 2016 participants: Kent State University, LeTourneau University, Purdue University and Westminster College. Each school will receive a new Cessna 172 in February to support flight training, recruiting and promotional activities throughout the year. In addition, one student at each […]

Readers of this blog know—or should know—that I have, from time to time, complained about GA’s tendency to incessantly blame and whine about the government’s poor treatment of the industry. Such diatribes tend to be too pat, lack any creative impulse and are boringly, depressingly predictable. So I try to restrain myself. So when this […]

Redbird Flight Simulations has partnered with Tempus Training Solutions to operate the Redbird Proflight Academy at its Skyport FBO in San Marcos, Texas. Tempus will continue training pilots there under FAA Part 61 and 141. The move allows Redbird to devote more of its resources to research and development, while continuing to use the training […]

“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. Fanatics will never learn that, though it be written in letters of gold across the sky. It is the prohibition that makes anything precious.” Mark Twain The month of May brought some good news to those who care about aviation, users of airports and the value of […]

Instrument pilots take far more checkrides than their more visually oriented counterparts. In addition to the initial rating check, you occasionally face an instrument competency ride when you are more than six months out of currency. Most times when you add a rating, like a multi-engine ticket, you’ll be expected to show off your gauge […]