Members Only -- AOPA ePilot Flight Training Edition, Volume 7, Issue 42

In this issue:
Dowling College adds aviation management MBA
Improve airport safety; take the Runway Safety quiz
Criminal penalties for TFR busts?

GOT A MENTOR?
Suppose there were one simple thing any student pilot could do to triple the chances of successfully completing training. Suppose this simple step not only betters the odds of success, but also increases the fun factor and opens the door to new and lasting friendship. Anyone would jump at a chance like that.

Got a mentor? If the answer is no, you may be missing out on the opportunities described above. A mentor isn't simply someone "in the know" about flying with whom you can share the tales of your flight training fun and challenges. He or she is also exactly the right person from whom to seek a second opinion on those occasions when doubts surface about the way in which your training is proceeding.

Perhaps you have someone in mind to play the mentor's role—possibly the person who provided you with your original inspiration to fly. If not, an excellent way to find a mentor is through AOPA's Project Pilot, which is just a click away on the AOPA Flight Training Web site.

Don't confuse mentoring with the role of the flight instructor; they fulfill different functions. "Mentoring does not mean becoming your prospective student's flight instructor, although members have both mentored and instructed through the AOPA Project Pilot program. However, helping your student choose an instructor and/or validating his or her choice of an instructor is exactly the role a mentor can play," wrote Julie Summers Walker in the July 2006 AOPA Pilot article for students and mentors titled "10 Steps to Making a Pilot."

Indeed, the issue she described about instructing is one of several questions that come up frequently enough in training for Project Pilot to offer students and their mentors standing advice about how to overcome common obstacles [ see the list] encountered in flight training. From scheduling problems to motion sickness to financing your flying, you are not alone in facing these potential setbacks. Help is available, and the results prove that the mentoring solution combined with Project Pilot's other resources works. With all this help and encouragement at your disposal, why go it alone?

Are you beginning to embark on longer cross-country odysseys? While it's important to obtain a complete briefing and check the weather before flying in the traffic pattern, the atmosphere and its influence on your flight become even more significant once you venture outside your home airspace. Expand your aeronautical horizons and go to AOPA Flight Training Online for a complete weather picture.

Do you have a question? Call the experienced pilots in AOPA's Pilot Information Center at 800/USA-AOPA. They're available to take your calls weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. As an AOPA Flight Training Member, you have access to all of the features within AOPA Online and AOPA Flight Training Online. Login information is available online.

DOWLING COLLEGE ADDS MBA IN AVIATION MANAGEMENT
Dowling College in Oakdale, N.Y., now offers a master's in business administration in aviation management, the college announced on Oct. 12. The degree program includes an option to take an additional four undergraduate aviation courses. The MBA will enable students with a nonaviation undergraduate degree to sit for the FAA Air Traffic Control exam and help current aviation students to advance their careers, Dowling said. 

EMBRY-RIDDLE STUDENTS RECEIVE WINGS CLUB SCHOLARSHIPS
Two students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) have received $5,000 scholarships from the Wings Club, an organization formed to promote the advancement and development of aeronautics. Nate Visser of Grand Haven, Mich., is a senior at ERAU's Prescott, Ariz., campus, and a member of that campus's Golden Eagles Flight Team. Timothy Billon of Clermont, Fla., is a senior at the university's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus. He recently completed an internship with Northwest Airlines.

IMPROVE AIRPORT SAFETY; TAKE THE RUNWAY SAFETY QUIZ
Runway incursions are up almost 15 percent this year. Just this week, a British Airways Boeing 747 and a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus 340 banged wing tips at London's Heathrow Airport. But runway incursions can happen at any airport and can involve any type of aircraft—they're not exclusive to large airports and big jets. If you're a little uncertain about ground operations and airport signage, test your knowledge with the latest AOPA Air Safety Foundation Safety Quiz. Each Safety Quiz offers a quick, easy, and interactive way in which to assess and expand your knowledge. Plus, you can earn a chance to win a Sporty's Air-Scan V aviation radio/scanner.

CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR TFR BUSTS?
The FAA has added new language to notams, telling pilots that they could face criminal penalties for violating temporary flight restrictions (TFRs). The notams now say, "Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the rules concerning operations in this airspace is subject to certain criminal penalties under 49 USC 46307." The FAA has always had the ability to assess these types of charges, but it has never been stated so bluntly. AOPA President Phil Boyer wrote the FAA on Oct. 12 to ensure that pilots who inadvertently violate TFRs won't be subject to criminal charges or hefty civil penalties. For the complete story, see AOPA Online.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CATCH-A-CARDINAL? WE HAVE ANSWERS!
It's been 40 weeks since AOPA first started detailing the refurbishment of this year's sweepstakes airplane, a Cessna 177, on AOPA Online. And you've let us know you're reading with questions over the course of the project. AOPA Pilot Technical Editor Julie Boatman, this year's sweepstakes project manager, answers some of those questions in this week's update.

HAVE YOU UPDATED YOUR AOPA MEMBER PROFILE?
To make the most of your membership and allow us to serve you better, please visit AOPA Online and update your personal member profile.

‘SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS' ADORNS SPORTY'S ORNAMENT
Sporty's has unveiled its 2007 Christmas ornament, and this year's entry—Sporty's twenty-third in the series—is The Spirit of St. Louis. The crystal ornament was created in honor of the eightieth anniversary of Charles A. Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Pick up one for a mentor, a flight instructor, or someone who loves aviation history. The limited edition ornament is $24.95 and may be ordered online.

Note: Products listed have not been evaluated by ePilot editors unless otherwise noted. AOPA assumes no responsibility for products or services listed or for claims or actions by manufacturers or vendors.

Question: Recently I overheard some pilots discussing a better, simpler way of navigating using a wind triangle. What is a wind triangle?

Answer: A wind triangle is a graphic depiction of wind affecting your route of flight from point to point. Groundspeed, heading, and time for any flight can be determined by using the wind triangle. It can be applied to any length of cross-country flight. A wind triangle, the pilot's version of vector analysis, is the basis of "dead reckoning" (navigation solely by means of computations based on time, airspeed, distance, and direction). The steps to making a wind triangle are outlined in Chapter 14, Navigation, in the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge.

Got a question for our technical services staff? E-mail to [email protected] or call the Pilot Information Center, 800/872-2672. Don't forget the online archive of "Final Exam" questions and answers, searchable by keyword or topic.

Looking to get night current, a VFR pilot inadvertently enters the clouds just 400 feet after taking off. Read how he keeps his composure and puts his training to use in the latest installment of Never Again Online.

Fort Worth, TX. A fourth annual Cowtown Warbird Roundup and FACtoberfest take place Oct. 26 and 27 at Fort Worth Meacham International (FTW). Contact John Zapp, 817/501-3641, or visit the Web site.

To submit an event to the calendar or to search all events visit AOPA Online. For airport details, including FBO fuel prices, see AOPA's Airport Directory Online.

FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR REFRESHER CLINICS
The next AOPA Air Safety Foundation Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics are scheduled in Windsor, CT; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; and Columbia, SC, October 27 and 28. Clinics are also scheduled in Anchorage, AK; Cincinnati; Ft. Worth, TX; and Ashburn, VA, November 3 and 4. For a complete schedule, see AOPA Online. Can't make it in person? Sign up for the CFI Refresher Online.

AOPA AIR SAFETY FOUNDATION SAFETY SEMINARS
AOPA Air Safety Foundation Safety Seminars are scheduled in Poughkeepsie, NY, Eugene, OR, and Blacksburg, VA, October 22; Latham, NY, Portland, OR, and Danville, VA, October 23; Syracuse, NY, Richmond, VA, and Seattle, WA, October 24; Henrietta, NY, and Hampton, VA, October 25; Pikesville, NC, October 27; Concord, CA, and Jamestown, NC, October 29; Salinas, CA, and Charlotte, NC, October 30; and Fresno, CA, and Flat Rock, NC, October 31. The topic is "Regulations: What every pilot should know." For details and a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.