News /

Rare find. Rare Aircraft of Minnesota restores some of the finest aircraft of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The company also specializes in restoring Waco aircraft, like this open-cockpit biplane—a Taperwing. "Our customers regard their airplanes as treasured possessions, but not museum pieces," says Rare Aircraft's founder Roy Redman. "They buy them to fly them."

>>Download a larger version of this photo

Training Products

Flight simulators in the classroom

'Edustation' units ideal for small spaces

By Jill W. Tallman

A portable, turnkey flight simulator specifically designed for classroom use is showing students at schools in Connecticut and New York how much fun flying can be. Its creator, Jay Leboff, says a new curriculum designed to work with the simulator will help teachers combine science and math with simulation so that students will learn to solve complex problems using multiple disciplines.

Leboff, owner of Hot Seat Chassis Inc., said he got the idea for the Edustation after selling a dual-screen flight simulator to a school in New Canaan, Connecticut. “It occurred to me while I was in the school that classroom space is at a premium,” he said. “They were putting all the flight gear on an AV cart and wheeling it around. I said, ‘This is crazy, I’ll be back on Monday.’” He designed and built the first Edustation that weekend.

The units are ideal for middle- and high-school aviation clubs, but Leboff is going further with the idea that they can help teachers to effectively integrate science, technology, math, and engineering in ways that students find engaging and entertaining. Leboff and associates Vivian Birdsall and Henry Rey created a 22-lesson curriculum designed to apply math and science taught in the classroom. Flying Makes STEM Fun consists of one-hour classroom lessons coupled with a one-hour lab that encourage students to work together in teams.

The curriculum gots its official launch at a summer STEM program for New York City high school students offered by the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Leboff videotaped each session and lab and is editing it to create a teaching tutorial for teachers who are not pilots. “We’ll conduct a study to screen kids before the program, observe them through the program, screen them on the way out, with the objective to validate the efficacy of teaching aviation math and science and using aviation as a tool,” he said.

The Edustation is priced at $3,995, which includes the 32-inch monitor and plug-and-play computer that runs Microsoft Flight Simulator X; yoke, rudder, and throttle controls; and a 2.1 sound system that can be used with headsets. Each unit comes with a basic introduction to flying that helps teachers train the students to operate the unit. The STEM Lab curriculum will be licensed and sold separately. For more information, see the website (www.edustations.com).

First Look: Fly more often, have more fun

SocialFlight has an app for that

By Dave Hirschman

Providing new reasons to fly has been SocialFlight’s reason to exist since Jeff Simon launched the online firm two years ago, and it appears to be working. More than 25,000 people have signed up for the free service which includes customized weekly email listings of regional aviation events. And about 200,000 people see online SocialFlight calendars through other media.

Now, the Massachusetts firm has launched SocialFlight 4.0, a free app that provides detailed information about destinations as well as reviews of area restaurants, hotels, and attractions. The mobile app also shows current trip planning material such as airport information and weather forecasts. About 15,000 aviation events have been listed via SocialFlight in the past 18 months, and some are drawing people from far outside their usual geographic areas.

SocialFlight’s weekly list of aviation activities is distributed every Wednesday evening, and that gets pilots thinking about making plans for weekend flying. It also has the potential to reach many more aviation enthusiasts who haven’t grown up around aviation. SocialFlight 4.0 also includes search tools designed to form networks based on common interests. If you want to find someone living within 50 miles that owns an antique biplane and is also a flight instructor, SocialFlight can do that for you.

SocialFlight 4.0 can be found at both Apple and Google app stores.

For more information, visit the website.

'Giving Back' grant awarded

Duluth institute honors Path to Aviation scholars

By Dan Namowitz

The Duluth Aviation Institute, a 2013 recipient of an AOPA Foundation “Giving Back” grant, has issued awards to two Minnesota middle school students for academic excellence in aviation.

The institute, based at Sky Harbor Airport in Duluth, Minnesota, presented Apollo-Gilruth Continuum awards for academic excellence to Nikolai Breimon of Lincoln Park Middle School, and Benjamin Harnell of Proctor Jedlicka Middle School for their performance in the Path to Aviation program. The program is an AOPA education initiative to bring aviation to America’s secondary school students. The awards honor Robert R. Gilruth, a Duluth citizen and noted aviation pioneer who became the first director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The AOPA Foundation’s Giving Back program recognizes good work being done in general aviation by nonprofit organizations. The 10 recipient organizations each received a $10,000 grant.

The Duluth Aviation Institute reported that it teamed with Lincoln Park and Jedlicka Middle School science teachers to present 11 lessons in aviation science to sixth graders in the just-concluded semester. The two award winners “excelled in all classroom activities, extra credit projects, 11 plane quizzes and the post-test,” it said.

In addition, the top 15 percent of students throughout the program got to experience a flight from Sky Harbor Airport, courtesy of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Duluth-Superior Chapter 272, Two Harbors Chapter 1128, and Cloquet Chapter 1221.

Last chance to apply for an AOPA scholarship

To be awarded at AOPA Fly-In

August 22 is the deadline to apply for one of 10 scholarships offered by the AOPA Foundation. Nine scholarships will provide $5,000, and a tenth scholarship will award $12,000, to a student pilot pursuing an FAA sport, recreational, or private pilot certificate. The recipients will be chosen based on merit, including previous accomplishments, ability to set goals, and demonstrated commitment to flight training and general aviation. The scholarships will be awarded at the AOPA Homecoming Fly-In in Frederick, Maryland, October 4. The winners will be notified prior to the Homecoming Fly-In and do not need to be present to accept the award. For more information, see the (website).

AOPA announces dues increase, new membership options

Students get free six-month membership

AOPA President Mark Baker recently told members that “for only the second time in the past 24 years, we’ve made the tough decision to increase AOPA member dues.” Regular membership dues will increase to $59 a year September 1.

“We know you count on AOPA to represent your aviation interests at every level of government and to provide you with specialized services tailored to how, what, and why you fly,” Baker said.

AOPA offers members hotlines, award-winning magazines, outstanding websites, best-in-class safety education, and more. Membership dues cover about 30 percent of AOPA’s annual operating costs, with revenues from other sources like advertising and sponsorships covering the rest.

Since Baker became president in 2013, AOPA has cut its operating costs by “eliminating four executive positions, reducing mailings to save postage, and selling the Caravan.” Now, AOPA’s 2014 operating budget is the lowest it has been since 2006.

“But even with cuts, the basic cost of doing business has gone up in America. Things like technology to operate the websites and postage to mail the magazines are a lot more expensive these days. At the same time, companies in every industry, including GA, are spending less on advertising, significantly reducing an important source of revenue,” he said.

Student pilots can get a free one-time six-month introductory AOPA membership that includes six issues of Flight Training magazine, plus full access to
the benefits of AOPA membership. Go online (www.aopa.org/Membership).

Fun in the Southern California sun

Chino hosting next AOPA event

The fun heads west to Southern California as AOPA makes final preparations for its Chino Fly-In on Saturday, September 20. Chino Airport (CNO), about 40 nautical miles east of Los Angeles, is the place to meet fellow pilots and AOPA members, learn during educational seminars, and check out aircraft and product displays. Bring your appetite, too—breakfast will be served, and lunch is free to AOPA members (RSVP required).

Chino’s airport has a rich heritage and is home to a wide variety of warbirds, many airworthy. Do not miss Chino’s two world-class aviation museums, Planes of Fame Air Museum and Yanks Air Museum; they have different philosophies and different objectives, so seeing one is not like seeing the other.

Less accessible, smaller, and just as interesting is Aero Trader, a private warbird maintenance and restoration business. While the company has restored an incredibly diverse range of warbirds, it specializes in the North American B-25 and P-51. The company owns the B-25 type certificate and has all the aircraft’s engineering drawings.

Admission to AOPA’s Chino Fly-In is free, and volunteers are appreciated; visit the website (www.aopa.org/fly-in) to RSVP or sign up to volunteer.

AOPA Initiative: AOPA launches Flight Training poll

Survey provides feedback for industry

AOPA has announced that it has opened its popular flight training poll, a survey that allows student pilots to offer feedback on their flight training experiences.

This is the third year for the poll, which provides valuable data on the performance—good and bad—of flight schools and instructors as a means of adopting best practices and improving the customer experience.

Last year, 3,375 individuals completed the poll, resulting in reviews of 508 different flight schools and 956 instructors.

Survey results determine AOPA’s annual Flight Training Excellence Awards, which recognize exceptional flight instructors and schools.

The poll is based on AOPA’s extensive research into the optimal flight training experience and it addresses educational quality, customer focus, community and information sharing.

“The poll provides instructors the chance to understand what constitutes a high-value training experience,” said Brittney Miculka, AOPA’s senior manager of pilot community development. “Most people will give a new pursuit one try, and if the experience doesn’t meet expectations, they’ll quit. The poll results allow us to share feedback with flight schools and instructors and shine a spotlight on the flight training professionals who make general aviation stronger by mentoring lifelong, passionate aviators.”

Participants can sign onto an AOPA website to answer 32 questions on flight schools and 26 questions on flight instructors. Poll responses are anonymous, and participants do not have to be AOPA members. The poll will close at midnight on August 23, 2014.

Data collected from the poll will be compiled and shared in a report in Flight Training magazine in early 2015.

Flight Training Excellence Award categories include:

• Best flight school
• Best flight instructor
• Outstanding flight school
• Outstanding flight instructor
• Honor Roll flight school
• Honor Roll flight instructor
• President’s Choice Award
• Student’s Choice Award

To learn more about the 2014 Flight Training Poll, and to participate, go online.

More information on the 2014 Flight Training Excellence Awards may be found online

Abeam the numbers

20: Number of turns William K. Kershner would perform on request when spin training with a flight instructor applicant.

81: Number of turns in the record-breaking flat spin Spencer Suderman flew in March 2014.

1: Amount of G force in a spin.

2: Amount of G force in a snap roll (assuming a 100-knot entry speed in a Pitts)