UFO a flying mistress
It's big and slow. The familiar green, red, and white navigation lights indicative of an airplane aren't visible. One bystander on the ground watches the craft fly low in the Ohio night sky, focusing on the oddly positioned white lights for clues. Read more >>
NTSB issues experimental aircraft safety recommendations
Experimental amateur-built aircraft account for a disproportionate share of fatal crashes, many of those in the first hours of flight. On May 22, the NTSB issued a set of 16 recommendations to improve flight testing, pilot training, and clarify regulations pertaining to both.
Fly like a fighter: Backseat landings
Backseat landings in a T-38 are a challenge. Backseat no-flap landings in a T-38 without any crosswind are even worse—you can't see the runway directly ahead of you on approach.
Wing spar cap inspections required for C210s
A direct-to-final-rule airworthiness directive issued May 21 requires one-time inspections of the wings' lower main spar caps on Cessna 210, P210, and T210 model airplanes.
'For real?' Sporty's sweeps winner stunned
Pilots took a break from chowing down on hot dogs, hushed their chatter, and gathered around Sporty's 2012 Sweepstakes G300-equipped Cessna Skycatcher hoisted high in the aviation consumer's atrium—they had a stake in what was about to happen, so silence was essential.
Flight hours up, accidents down in 2010
The combination of increased flight activity and fewer accidents added up to lower noncommercial accident rates in both airplanes and helicopters in 2010, according to a preliminary report issued May 16 by the Air Safety Institute. The accident rates of commercial GA flights—charter, crop-dusting, and external load operations conducted for pay—maintained the improvements seen over the past five years.
Youth aviation initiative picking up steam
Aviation summer camps have long targeted youth in hopes of influencing their career aspirations. With an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math classes in the education system and a growing realization of the declining pilot population and predicted pilot shortage, more aviation camps are popping up around the country.
More News
June 2012 AOPA Pilot Features
- Confident in chaos
- They came back
- Electro flight
- Fly-Outs: Grimes Field
- Dogs that fly
- Dogfight: Three big wishes
- Wx Watch: Briefing timelines
- Technique: Fly the box
- GA in China
- Husky makes a pilot
- Avionics: Welcome to the future
- Landmark Accidents: Three strikes
- VNAV 101
- Dassault Falcon 20
- What's your type?
Check out the inaugural digital edition of AOPA Pilot. Interested in switching to digital? See our frequently asked questions and sign up today.
Digital Subscribers—access the digital editions archives here:
AOPA Pilot | AOPA Turbine Pilot | Flight Training
Security TFRs
AOPA Featured Pictures
- Learn to Fly Day | Jun. 02 - Frederick,
- FATA Annual Conference | Jun. 12 - Palm Beach, FL
- AOPA Aviation Summit | Oct. 11 - Oct. 13 - Palm Springs, CA
- Free Lunch at Pilotmall! | May. 19 - May. 26 - Lakeland, FL
- Improve your Approaches and Landings Part II | May. 23 - West Los Angeles, CA
- Fly the Ford | May. 24 - May. 29 - Lawrenceville, GA
- Party Down For The Playground | May. 24 - Greenville, SC
- Small Business Roundtable with House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves and Cong. Scott Tipton | May. 24 - Pueblo, CO
- Georgia Flyers Memorial Day Weekend Bahamas Trip | May. 24 - May. 28 - Atlanta, GA
- Ranger Fly-In & Airshow No. 5 | May. 25 - May. 26 - Ranger, TX
- Southern Wisconsin AirFEST | May. 25 - May. 27 - Janesville, WI
- Instrument Rating Written Class | May. 25 - May. 27 - West Chicago, IL
- CFI-Airplane and Fundamentals of Instruction Written Class | May. 25 - May. 27 - Spring, TX
View Calendar | Add Event | Learn how you can engage others in aviation!
Get dates and locations near you for
Air Safety Institute Safety Seminars and Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics.
AOPA/EAA 3rd Class Medical Exemption Petition
Get more information about the request that AOPA and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) submitted to the FAA on March 20; if successful, it would offer pilots the option of obtaining a third class FAA medical or instead becoming educated on medical self-assessment to operate familiar aircraft recreationally using the driver’s license as the baseline of health.
Pennsylvania House passes aviation tax exemption
The Pennsylvania House passed a bill, by a vote of 179 to 19, to exempt aircraft purchases and maintenance from the state's 6-percent sales tax in action supporters said would return jobs and competitiveness to the state's aviation industry.
GA Caucus hits NPS air-tour regulation
Leaders of the House General Aviation Caucus in Congress are working to block a provision in the Highway Reauthorization bill that would give the National Park Service unprecedented regulatory authority over air tour operators overseen by the FAA.
FAA report: GA an asset to nation
Over the last century, general aviation airports have evolved from unpaved strips to a vital network of aviation hubs that contributed $38.8 billion to the economy in 2009, says a new FAA study.
