FEBRUARY 27, 2015 - VOL 17, ISSUE 9

Technique and Safety

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The 'almost ILS' at Roanoke

You're intercepting a localizer and glideslope on this approach, but you're not flying an ILS! What gives? Find out why things are different on this unique approach to Roanoke Regional Airport's Runway 6. Take the quiz...

Aircraft Maintenance

Warm panel, cool wallet

Pilots focus on preheating the engine during cold weather, but what about the cockpit? More than 30 percent of an aircraft's value is often tied up in the panel. In addition, the interior plastic, switches, levers, etc. are all expensive components that are vulnerable to severe weather. Here are tips to preheat the cockpit safely. Read more...  

Video

Pilot shares lessons from ditching

On the night of Oct. 9, 2009, a Mooney experienced an engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot, realizing he wouldn't be able to reach land, had only one option: to ditch the aircraft in the rough, dark waters below. Had he prepared adequately for an over-water night flight? Find out what he learned in Ditching in the Dark...  

Blog

Of iPads and avionics

When the electrical system of a Piper Comanche failed at night, the pilot used an iPad to get to an airport. With internal or supplemental GPS, an electronic flight bag's ability to navigate is more accurate and far more versatile than VORs—but it's not perfect, notes Air Safety Institute Senior Safety Advisor Bruce Landsberg. Do you supplement your certified avionics with noncertified technology? Read more...  

Advocacy

Advocacy

AOPA focuses on reform at congressional roundtable

The FAA needs to reform its regulatory and certification processes, including changing the third class medical and making it easier to bring safety technology into the cockpit, AOPA told a House Aviation Subcommittee roundtable on Feb. 25. Read more...  

Advocacy

AMEs get video guidance on new sleep apnea policy

The FAA has released an eight-minute video providing aviation medical examiners with guidance on the agency's new obstructive sleep apnea policy, which takes effect March 2. Read more...  

Advocacy

ECi rule is not justified

The FAA's supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on ECi cylinders is not justified by the agency's documentation and doesn't fully account for the economic and safety implications of its requirements, AOPA said in formal comments filed Feb. 23. Read more...  

Advocacy

Members connect in Northwest

AOPA connected with hundreds of pilots, aircraft owners, and aviation enthusiasts during the thirty-second Northwest Aviation Conference held in Puyallup, Washington, Feb. 21 and 22. Read more...  

AOPA Close to Home

Join the Airport Support Network

Ensuring the health and vitality of your airport is up to you—incompatible development and economic and political pressures can restrict your flying. Every day, close to 2,500 Airport Support Network (ASN) volunteers work with AOPA headquarters to help save their airports, but we need more. To learn more and nominate yourself as a volunteer, visit the Airport Support Network online. See a list of airports that need and currently have volunteers.

Health

Article

New medical insurance policy targets career risk for pilots

AOPA has crafted a new insurance policy that takes the risk of losing your medical certificate out of a flying career. Read more...  

Opinion

Blog

Look, Ma ... no hands

Are you working too hard while flying? Opinion Leaders blogger Rob Mark offers a tip to make your flying life a little easier: "Next time you're out solo in level flight, simply let go of the control wheel or stick and watch what happens to the nose of the airplane." Mark outlines how to trim the airplane properly. Read more...  

Travel

Slideshow

Hawaii from above

With one hand on the yoke and the other on his camera, Hawaii-based photographer Brian Powers captures the awe-inspiring beauty of the islands from his 1979 Piper Cherokee in the March issue of AOPA Pilot. "It's amazing what only pilots get to see in Hawaii," he says. "Pilots who visit Hawaii will be amazed at the things they can see from the air. It's totally unlike visitors who stay on the ground." Read more...  

Financial

Members only

Trust, but verify: Transaction tips for aircraft buyers

Aircraft transactions are sometimes handled in a rather casual manner with the parties relying on verbal arrangements or inexact terms written on the back of a napkin. You can reduce the risks inherent in an aircraft transaction, however, by following advice in an adage used famously by President Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify." Read more...  

Member benefits

AOPA Insurance Services supports general aviation

AOPA Insurance Services provides you with comprehensive, competitive aviation and life insurance coverage, with the general aviation community in mind. Read more...  

News and Notes

Article

Widgeon voted favorite 'Pilot' cover

After nearly a year of voting for their favorite AOPA Pilot magazine covers, members have dubbed the March 2000 cover featuring the Grumman Widgeon the winner. AOPA Photographer Mike Fizer snapped the cover image for Barry Schiff's Grumman G-44 Widgeon feature. "Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation was known during its heyday as the Grumman Iron Works. There was nothing fragile about a Grumman-built airplane," Schiff writes. Check out the cover...  

Article

A life in general aviation

J. Reid Garrison, an airshow performer and formation pilot who has been part of the story line at the major aviation events across the years, including Sun 'n Fun and EAA AirVenture, was recently inducted into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame. Read more...  

Article

Kids learn about flight, pet rescue

Children from the Frederick, Maryland, area got a chance to climb into an airplane, fly a simulator, and meet a flying dog during Paws and Planes Day. Read more...  

Event

Fly it Forward Challenge issued

The Women of Aviation Worldwide Week community, which organizes activities to welcome women and girls into aviation, is issuing a challenge to pilots: give a female passenger her first flight in a small aircraft or fund a flight during Women of Aviation Worldwide Week March 2 through 8. The 2015 events celebrate 100 years of female pilots in combat, and organizers are encouraged to extend a special flight invitation to nonflying female military personnel and their daughters. Find out more about the Fly it Forward Challenge online.  

Article

Filmmakers moving forward on Burt Rutan documentary

A career spent "democratizing flight" is entering the realm of documentary movie-making as two filmmakers launch a project to tell Burt Rutan's story. Read more...  

Career Opportunities

Aviation job board

Job of the week: Airport commission executive director

The Houma-Terrebonne Airport Commission is seeking an individual who is professional and personable, has political acumen, and has experience managing a general aviation airport with a high volume of both fixed- and rotary-wing traffic. Apply for this exciting opportunity now.

AOPA career opportunities

Join the AOPA team

Ever dream of turning your passion for aviation into a career? We're looking for an outreach and events coordinator; aviation event and meeting planner; vice president for major and leadership gifts; Sitecore developer; director of studies, research, and analysis; associate editor—Web/ePilot; and account manager II. To learn more about other AOPA career opportunities, visit AOPA Online.