Do you have trepidations about self-announcing on the unicom at a nontowered airport? Or are you timid about communicating with the controllers at a towered field? Whether you’re new to these environments or just need a refresher, AOPA’s Air Safety Institute Operations at Airports Safety Spotlight will help you find just about everything on the topic in one easy place.

From courses to videos and publications to quizzes, the spotlight helps you avoid confusing or unsafe situations by bolstering your knowledge about surface operations and flying to and from airports with and without a control tower. Learn how to effectively communicate with fellow pilots and ATC by taking ASI’s Say It Right: Mastering Radio Communication online course, and hear air traffic controllers talk about how they can guide you along unfamiliar taxiways and runways at towered airports in the Ask ATC: Progressive Taxi video. Brush up on nontowered airport operations with a recently recorded webinar from AOPA and ASI, which delves into VFR and IFR operations, proper unicom and CTAF use, and right-of-way and training issues at busy airports, to name a few topics covered.

Don’t dread stalls

Take ASI’s safety quiz for a spin

“Keep the ball centered” is an all too familiar phrase in flight training. Let the ball wander and the airplane may become dangerously uncoordinated. The result leads some pilots to swear they’ll never practice stalls on their own. Sound familiar? Although it’s a good thing to be careful, it’s better to take steps to really understand the aerodynamics that lead up to stalls and spins and how to recover from them. It will help alleviate concerns, even fear, you may have. To get started, take ASI’s Stalls and Spins safety quiz; then find a qualified instructor for a practical demonstration of conditions that lead up to stalls and spins.