Learn to Fly

“I hope they shut down the airport and turn it into a toxic waste dump. That’ll really piss off the liberals.”— Overheard at my local airport diner This will come as a surprise if you’ve read AOPA’s lobbying materials, but maybe we’re not such awesome neighbors. I teach at San Carlos and Palo Alto, in […]

Able Flight, a nonprofit providing sport pilot training to people with significant disabilities, is at Sun ‘n Fun 2017 educating light sport aircraft makers about the demand for planes adapted for use by persons with disabilities. A basic adaptive airplane requires little more than a hand control for rudders and brakes. Many light sport aircraft […]

Able Flight, a non-profit providing sport pilot training to people with significant disabilities, is at Sun N’ Fun 2017 educating light sport aircraft makers about the demand for planes adapted for use by persons with disabilities. A basic adaptive airplane requires little more than a hand control for rudders and brakes. Many light sport aircraft […]

Independent filmmaker Katie McEntire Wiatt, based in Lakeland, Florida, explains how her experience at Sun ‘n Fun inspired her to explore the lives of women who fly, and use those stories to inspire girls to explore careers in science and technology. Duration: File Size: download here

Officials at a Montreal flight school say they are at a loss to explain how two Chinese students flying school-owned Cessna 152s collided above a busy shopping mall and crashed on Friday, killing one of the students and severely injuring the other. One of the aircraft went through the roof of the mall; the other […]

Our main airport has several flight schools and they keep us air traffic controllers quite busy. It’s easy to tell when they get a new batch of students—those first radio calls for VFR clearances and eventual taxi and takeoff are usually halting, uncertain affairs, dragging on as students parrot their instructors without truly understanding the […]

I mostly fly aircraft certificated under Part 23, but last month, I had five flights in a row in four different light sport aircraft. All this light sport flying got me thinking about an opinion piece I read years ago with the self-explanatory title: “The Skycatcher’s Death Proves the LSA Rule is a Failure.” That […]

I’ve done enough instruction in the Cub now to understand it’s the worst place in the world to do great flight instruction. Ever been in the front seat of one? Super Cubs don’t count and neither do any of the new-age Cub knockoffs. They’re as far from the 1930s ergonomic hell of a J-3 as […]

The AOPA Air Safety Institute has launched a new initiative, the Safety Alliance, which brings together safety-related resources from across the industry in one location online. The content, all of which is free to all pilots, is organized by topic on its own Safety Alliance webpage. “ASI is proud to provide a common platform for […]

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 […]