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Tel: 800/USA-AOPA or
301/695-2000
Copyright � 2002 AOPA. | Training Tips
| PRACTICAL TEST PREP
Your solo, cross-country, and night-flight requirements have been met. Your maneuvers are consistently being flown to test standards. Your handling of routine and emergency cockpit chores is confident and competent. Your FAA knowledge test has been passed. Time now for your instructor to schedule an appointment for you with your local designated pilot examiner (DPE), who will administer your private pilot practical test, which will consist of an oral exam and a flight test. The examiner may be a local working pilot or experienced flight instructor who is authorized by the FAA to give flight tests and issue pilot certificates. Your flight instructor has probably had past dealings with your local DPE, and can fill you in. See the February 2001 AOPA Flight Training for a description of their role.
When preparing, make sure that you don't overlook any details pertaining to your eligibility to take the test. Your personal eligibility requirements are set out in Section 61.103 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. A helpful "Applicant's Practical Test Checklist" is located near the front of the Practical Test Standards booklet ( click here to download) that you have been using to judge satisfactory performance of flight operations and knowledge requirements during training. If you are not yet thoroughly familiar with this publication, make that a priority, too. Knowledge is power and the PTS provides it, as discussed in the April 2001 AOPA Flight Training. Also review the changes made in August 2002 to the private pilot test standards.
 Take special care when completing FAA Form 8710-1 ( click here to download). For example, fail to use the correct 8-digit format for dates, and the application will be rejected. Your examiner will learn much about you from the information on this form, and from your up-to-date student pilot logbook. The airworthiness of your aircraft will also come under scrutiny, so make sure it will pass muster, which includes having the required documents aboard.
This may surprise you, but sending you off for "the ride" can mean as much to the CFI as it does to you. When your flight instructor affixes his or her signature to your completed application, it is not only a necessary validation procedure but a high vote of confidence in you as a pilot, as one flight instructor reflects in the January 2000 AOPA Flight Training. He or she believes that you will do well on the checkride.
| Your Partner in Training
| So what kind of gear do you really need to learn to fly? Check out Getting the Gear You Need for the best tips on stocking your student-pilot flight bag. You'll learn how to find what you need at the right price. And don't forget, our aviation experts at 800/USA-AOPA are available to give you advice as well, every weekday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.
As an AOPA Flight Training Member, you have access to all of the features within AOPA Online. For login information click here.
| Flight Training News
| INTEREST UP IN BE A PILOT PROGRAM
Despite the effects from the terrorist attacks last year, interest in taking a Be A Pilot introductory flight lesson is up 4.2 percent in 2002. Be A Pilot is an industry-sponsored program that encourages people to learn to fly. "Many flight schools report business close to normal or better, a surprisingly good year," said Drew Steketee, Be A Pilot president. "Moreover, FAA data show that 2002 student pilot certificates issuance hit 39,733 in July, also up 4 percent–the best pace since 1993." Steketee said Be A Pilot's upgraded Web site has attracted more than 500,000 visitors so far this year. Nearly 20 percent of those interested in flying use its "Find a Flight School" feature. Users can then print a $49 certificate for the first flying lesson.
OKLAHOMA PILOTS AWARD SCHOLARSHIP
The Oklahoma Pilots Association (OPA) recently awarded its eleventh annual Vic Jackson Memorial Scholarship to Southeastern Oklahoma State University aviation student Lindy Jackson. Jackson recently earned her bachelor's degree and is currently enrolled in the Master's program at the Durant, Oklahoma, college's Department of Aviation. The $2,000 award will fund ongoing flight requirements. Jackson is interested in professional aerial photography. Previous recipients have gone on to careers as airline, corporate, and commercial pilots, as well as other aviation professions.
| Inside AOPA
| NEW TSA HEAD PLEDGES TO WORK WITH AOPA
The new head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Admiral James Loy, this week pledged to work with AOPA "on issues of importance to general aviation." AOPA President Phil Boyer and Senior Vice President of Government and Technical Affairs Andy Cebula met with Loy to acquaint him with AOPA and the concerns of general aviation pilots. Boyer noted that Loy was more open than previous TSA leadership. Loy said that because of his past experience leading the U.S. Coast Guard, he "understood the need for a partnership with industry to accomplish critical tasks." The day after their meeting, Loy told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that his goal is to "restore mobility to all Americans ... that is an inalienable right." He promised to continue to improve communication with Congress, private industry, agencies, and airports.
AOPA DONATES $17,500 TO SCHOLARSHIP AT ERAU
AOPA on Tuesday presented Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a check for $17,500 for the AOPA Career Pathways Scholarship fund. AOPA President Phil Boyer made the presentation during a Pilot Town Meeting in Daytona Beach, Florida, home of one of the university's two residential campuses. AOPA established the AOPA Career Pathways Scholarship in 1997 and to date has given some $70,000 to the fund, which is part of a landmark alliance between the world's largest aviation organization and the leading aviation university in the United States. For more information, see AOPA Online.
Changing your mailing or e-mail addresses? Click here to update.
| Training Products
| HELICOPTER FLYING ON DVD
So You Want to Fly Helicopters, a popular video produced by Sporty's Pilot Shop, has been enhanced and is now available on DVD. As a bonus, it also now includes Helicopter Cross-Country. The DVD addresses helicopter components, rotary-wing aerodynamics, flight planning, preflight inspection, training maneuvers, and a variety of other subjects. It sells for $49.95 and may be ordered online or by calling 800/SPORTYS.
| Final Exam
| Question: What is the meaning of the four-point black star located on a sectional aeronautical chart? There are five letters located next to it. There's one located on my Charlotte Sectional, near Kitty Hawk, with the letters "VPWZO" next to it.
Answer: This star represents a VFR waypoint. Depicted on certain sectionals, VFR waypoints use the Global Positioning System (GPS) and provide pilots with additional tools to improve positive situational awareness. VFR waypoint names consist of five letters beginning with the letters "VP." The names are not intended to be pronounceable, and they are not for use in ATC communications. Stand-alone VFR waypoints are portrayed using the same four-point star symbol commonly used for other waypoints. VFR waypoints collocated with visual checkpoints on the chart will be identified by small magenta flag symbols. Each VFR waypoint name appears adjacent to the geographic location on the chart. Latitude/longitude data for all of the established VFR waypoints is provided in the Airport/Facility Directory. For more information on VFR waypoints, see the AOPA Pilot article "California Flying: VFR Waypoints Go Official."
Got a technical question for AOPA specialists? E-mail to [email protected] or call 800/872-2672.
| Picture Perfect
| | Jump to the AOPA Online Gallery to see the featured airplane of the day. Click on the link for details on how to capture wallpaper for your work area. See AOPA Online.
| What's New At AOPA Online
| AOPA AIR SAFETY FOUNDATION ONLINE QUIZZES
Did you know that the AOPA Air Safety Foundation offers a number of online safety quizzes? One addresses operations at towered airports. Each year there are more than 40 million arrivals and departures at airports with air traffic control towers, and nearly half of these are general aviation operations. To find out how knowledgeable you are about operating in this busy type of environment, take the quiz. Check the listing of all ASF online safety quizzes.
| Weekend Weather
| See the current weather on AOPA�Online, provided by Meteorlogix.
| ePilot Calendar
| WEEKEND FLYING DESTINATIONS
Grand Junction, Colorado. Airshow! Western Colorado takes place September 20 and 21 at Walker Field (GJT). Twilight show Friday evening, featuring Army Golden Knights. Saturday show featuring Army Golden Knights, Gene Soucy and Teresa Stokes, Smoke 'n Thunder, F-18 Hornet demonstration, and the Air Force Thunderbirds. Call 970/243-7718, or visit the Web site.
Farmington, New Mexico. Wings, Wheels, and Waves 2002 takes place September 21 at Four Corners Regional Airport (FMN). Family event featuring airshow acts, an F-117 fly-by, antique cars, activities for children. Free admission. Contact Joe Baker, 505/324-0688, or visit the Web site.
For more airport details, see AOPA's Airport Directory Online . For more events, see Aviation Calendar of Events.
ASF FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR REFRESHER CLINICS
(All clinics start at 7:30 a.m.)
The next AOPA Air Safety Foundation Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics are scheduled in Richmond, Virginia, on September 21 and 22. A clinic is also scheduled in Baltimore, on September 28 and 29. For the Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic schedule, see AOPA Online.
ASF PINCH-HITTER GROUND-SCHOOL COURSES
(Pinch-Hitter courses start at 9:30 a.m.)
The next Pinch-Hitter� Ground School will take place in San Jose, California, October 13. For more Pinch-Hitter courses, see AOPA Online.
ASF SAFETY SEMINARS
AOPA Air Safety Foundation Safety Seminars are scheduled in Rogers, Arkansas, September 16; Springfield, Missouri, September 17; and Wichita, Kansas, September 18. The topic is Single-Pilot IFR. For the complete schedule, see AOPA�Online.
To make submissions to the calendar, visit AOPA Online. For comments on calendar items, e-mail [email protected].
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