Get the latest news on coronavirus impacts on general aviation, including what AOPA is doing to protect GA, event cancellations, advice for pilots to protect themselves, and more.
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As the new year rolls in, it’s a great time to put the past behind us and take some positive steps toward an even better flying year ahead. It’s a time when we can get clear on how we can be better pilots and better people. Honestly, I think the two go hand in hand. ...
As I write this, the ink is still drying on the CARES 2.0 legislation that Congress passed in order to offer relief to individuals and businesses as the pandemic rages on. What does it mean for aviation and the airlines? In short, it’s a Band-aid, and not much else. Last spring, as the full extent ...
“Customer service,” unfortunately, is not usually synonymous with the airlines. We’ve all heard or experienced the horror stories of lost bags, exorbitant fees, lost kids, and heaven knows what else. But in this era of COVID, customer service is taking on new meanings and new challenges. In the post-9/11 world, it is all but impossible ...
As the new year approached, it occurred to me that I have owned the Cub for now just over 10 years. There is nothing like the passage of time measured in a base 10 number for a tad bit of reflection. Instead of rambling on endlessly about many of the stories that I have already ...
2020 has been some year. Gone were the AOPA Regional Fly-Ins, Sun ‘n Fun, Oshkosh, as well as all the awesome state and regional airport days and charity fly-ins I usually attend. Should you choose to hang out with me over the next four months while the weather improves and COVID [hopefully] fades, you will ...
The reliability of modern air travel is really quite remarkable. Airlines routinely report a success rate of well over ninety-eight percent. Even a drop of a tenth of a percentage point can get the attention of the bean-counters and managers. If a carrier operates 5,000 flights a day, and only one percent cancel, that’s still ...
In airline training, there are several kinds of actual training. Ground school, the simulator, emergency procedures, aircraft doors, et cetera, are all unique, with specific requirements. In the simulator, training usually concludes with a checkride of some sort. Sometimes the checking event is a routine flight from A to B with a few minor mechanical ...
When I first visit a mountain range, particularly one that I intend to do some flying in, I gaze from the car, train, or walkway up into terrain, wondering what it would be like to fly in such areas. Then my mind wanders to what kind of bad weather the place experiences. The natural evolution ...
As the flying season closes for a lot of the country, and the promise of a COVID vaccine on the horizon, I ask you to consider what your airport can do to encourage visitors to come to your home ‘drome. Hopefully in 2021 we will fly more frequently for pleasure, business, recreation and charitable purposes. ...
Before I delve into my thesis, I must preface that I find narrow proclamations in aviation to be quite dangerous. I recall in 2015 saying to myself that I “hadn’t found a crosswind I couldn’t handle yet.” A few weeks later featured nearly flying into a fence….during a crosswind that I couldn’t handle. Such binary ...
