Flight Training

So now it’s finally reality. The Third-Class medical exemption is a real thing, or at least it will be in May. Oddly, I am underwhelmed; like winning the lottery and learning that money can’t buy happiness. (OK, but all the same, I’d like a new TBM.) I think I’m not alone in this sentiment, yet […]

The Air Force is considering allowing its dwindling pilot population to moonlight as airline pilots as a way of keeping them available for active duty. Senior brass are reportedly giving pilots more latitude in shaping their own careers with active duty flying as part of the mix. “Are there alternative ways that we can do […]

One issue that comes up with building an aircraft is where and how the pilot learns to fly the aircraft. Many believe it’s the old adage of “kick the tires and light the fires.” But speaking from the insurance side…I don’t think so. When a person is working on their license, they are required to […]

Last month Icon Aircraft announced it had opened its second Flight Center to support its A5, a light sport amphibian (S-LSA). Based on Tampa’s Peter O. Knight Airport, the Center will provide flight training, sales, demos and service for the aircraft. At first glance, the announcement was generic good news that a general aviation manufacturer […]

Most pilots are content do drone along in the straight-and-level, rarely banking beyond 30 degrees or pitching up and down beyond 10. Meanwhile, aerobatic pilots enthuse in their ability to fly upside down, vertically and in all combinations. Somewhere in the middle of these two extremes are what the FAA calls “performance maneuvers,” generally thought […]

Colton Harris-Moore, whose two-year teenage crime spree included the theft of several small airplanes — which he had taught himself to fly from manuals and videos — pled guilty in 2011 to 33 counts of burglary and theft, and now has served his sentence and is seeking funds through GoFundMe to start his legitimate flying […]

I’ve never felt it was appropriate that a pilot could obtain an instrument rating without flying in the clouds. From a safety standpoint—no matter what type of flying the pilot intends to undertake—it seems beyond ludicrous. I received instrument dual in IMC at a small airport in rural Iowa; one would think that it would […]

The Atlanta Technical College, in Atlanta, Georgia, is no longer certified to offer aviation maintenance technician training, the FAA said this week. The FAA issued an emergency order alleging that the college failed to keep proper records for students. Some grade records were incomplete or lacked instructor signatures, the FAA said, and several students who […]

Stemme is planning to deliver its $369,000 next-generation S12 motorglider to U.S. customers this coming December. The new S12 picks up where the Stemme S10VT (which will remain in production) left off. It sports a longer 82-foot wing and an impressive 53:1 glide ratio, more baggage space, an integral tail water ballast system, a Dynon […]

The FAA is working to comply with new legislation, passed in July, that will make it possible sometime next year for private pilots to fly without a medical — but right now, until new rules are in place, the current rules remain in force, and that has created some confusion. One examiner advised some pilots […]