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Once you have your pilot certificate and start going places, your airplane will not only provide the transportation; it also can provide you with a bird’s-eye view of landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge.

What: Piper PA-21-300 Cherokee Six
Where: Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
Photographer: Mike Fizer

Winter elective is no vacation

Rocky Mountain College students take winter survival course

By Alyssa J. Miller

College electives are often considered frivolous, worth a couple of hours of easy credit to balance a demanding schedule of core classes. The Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division's Surratt Memorial Winter Survival Clinic that six Rocky Mountain College students completed for elective credit in January wasn’t easy, and what they learned could save their lives in the event of an aircraft accident.

Donne Rossow, an 18-year-old student pilot enrolled in the Billings, Montana, college’s four-year aeronautical science degree program, grew up in Montana and knows a thing or two about camping in the cold. “I figured it would be more of a vacation because I’m used to it,” Rossow said of the clinic. Then, she volunteered to spend the first night of the weekend course in the gutted, iced-over fuselage of a Beechcraft Musketeer. Temperatures were in the teens that night in Marion, Montana, and the cabin door refused to stay shut. “I really hope I never have to sleep in one again,” Rossow said the next morning. However, if she is ever in an aircraft accident and stranded overnight in a fuselage while waiting for rescue, “at least we’re going to know what to expect—a poor, cold night’s sleep.”

While she toughed it out in the fuselage, some of her fellow classmates tried their hand at camping outside, without the benefit of the survival skills—building a fire and survival hut, and insulating themselves from the snow—they would learn the following day. They didn’t sleep much, but they survived, thanks to an assist from a couple of instructors: Montana Department of Aeronautics Division Safety and Education Program Manager David Hoerner and retired Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Frank Bowen. The students learned from their mistakes while building a larger survival skillset during the rest of the clinic, making their second night out in the wilderness much easier to cope.

The three-day clinic included a discussion of emergency landing procedures; a lecture on how to treat injuries after an aircraft accident and keep yourself or your passengers safe and comfortable until rescue arrives; and hands-on activities like building a fire, melting and boiling snow for drinking water, building a survival shelter, and signaling for help.

“It’s pretty useful to be able to rip branches off trees left and right and start a fire,” said Riley Boyd, an A&P mechanic and private pilot from Springfield, Illinois, who is completing his first year at Rocky Mountain College.

Aviation students at the college are required to complete two hours of training on the equipment in the survival kits in each of the school’s trainers. While the terrain around Billings isn’t as mountainous as it is in northwestern Montana where the clinic took place, Daniel Hargrove, director of aviation at Rocky Mountain College, said the school’s students fly over remote areas and need to be prepared to survive outside overnight until rescue arrives.

'Pilot Tips' now on AOPA Live

Learn all about aircraft tires

Goodyear Aviation is sponsoring a series of online videos that provide valuable tips for aircraft owners. These videos take viewers to Akron, Ohio—home of the Goodyear blimp—to meet experts from the company who discuss topics such as fleet management, tire inspection, and share other advice on taking care of your aviation tires. To view the videos, go online and click on “Pilot Tips” on the right.

After the Checkride

Join the show: Fly to a major aviation event

There is nothing quite like attending your first airshow as a pilot. As a child you loved the performers because it was beyond anything you could imagine. As a pilot you’ll love them because now you can appreciate just how difficult and amazing it is to fly upside down a few feet above the ground. Although they will let you drive in to a place like Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida, flying in is the only way to get the full show experience. It can be daunting for a student or a new pilot, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. Every major show coordinates a notam that lays out a standard arrival and departure procedure so you know exactly what to expect ahead of time.

Braving the arrival is truly worth it. Being able to say you flew yourself in to the show when someone asks will be a seminal moment in your pilot career, and one that makes you feel like a true member of the club.