AOPA Pilot Online

Featured online at aopa.org/pilot

May 1, 2009 By Julie Summers Walker

Seven Zero Since 1939, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has been serving the needs of America’s pilots. From its beginning at Wings Field outside of Philadelphia, AOPA has grown to represent 416,000 pilots, two-thirds of all the certificated pilots in the country.

Seven Zero

Since 1939, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has been serving the needs of America’s pilots. From its beginning at Wings Field outside of Philadelphia, AOPA has grown to represent 416,000 pilots, two-thirds of all the certificated pilots in the country. Editor at Large Tom Horne traces the remarkable history of the organization in his story “Seven Zero” and the current leaders of the organization weigh in on the state of the association beginning with AOPA President Craig Fuller’s “ President’s Position: A Defining Moment.” View this online video and listen as two past presidents and Fuller discuss the history and future of AOPA.

One giant icon

It’s good to be in charge—just ask Editor in Chief Thomas B. Haines who had no problem assigning himself the enviable task of flying and reporting on the Goodyear blimp. As Goodyear Aviation celebrates its 100-year history, Haines takes the giant flying icon to the air. In this online video he describes the blimp’s flying characteristics and we get to ride along in the gondola.

The roadable airplane

A team of young engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have realized the dream of combining automobile and airplane. It’s the Terrafugia Transition, a roadable airplane, which flew its first historic flight in March. In the online video, watch as the Transition takes flight and see how lead engineer Carl Deitrich transforms the Transition from car to airplane.

AOPA/ASF Annual Reports

Financial statements for fiscal year 2008 from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the AOPA Air Safety Foundation are available online.

AOPA Air Safety Foundation Accident Case Study

As spring weather arrives, many pilots stop thinking about icing. But the risk continues. Witness the danger firsthand in Accident Case Study: Airframe Icing. The 20-minute course chillingly re-creates and analyzes events surrounding the 2005 crash of a Cirrus SR22, which encountered icing over the Sierra Nevada. Learn from the pilot’s mistakes—and get six key tips for avoiding a similar fate.