Tough trainer. The North American SNJ-5 trained generations of pilots in the United States Army Air Force and U.S. Navy to fly air combat maneuvering, aerial gunnery, and ground attack. It continued to serve as a primary training platform into the 1970s. The SNJ-5 cruises at 145 miles per hour, with a range of 730 miles and a climb rate of 1,200 feet per minute. A lightly wing-loaded tailwheel airplane, it demands careful attention to proper rudder pressure and does not reward ham-footed pilots.
What: North American SNJ-5
Where: Frederick, Maryland
Photographer: Chris Rose
AOPA launches 2015 flight training poll, sweepstakes
New in 2015: Prizes from Jeppesen, David Clark, Sporty’s
AOPA has opened its popular flight training poll, a survey that allows student pilots of all levels to share feedback on their flight training experiences.
Survey results are used to determine AOPA’s annual Flight Training Excellence Awards. This is the fourth year for the poll, which provides valuable data on the performance—good and bad—of flight schools and instructors as a means of promoting best practices and improving the customer experience.
New in 2015, AOPA is introducing a sweepstakes that offers valuable prizes to poll participants, including a Jeppesen Part 141 private pilot kit; a David Clark H10-13.4 aviation headset; and a Sporty’s Flight Gear iPad bag. The poll is open until August 22. See the website to participate or learn more.
AOPA Foundation offers scholarships
Opportunities for student pilots, young aviators
The AOPA Foundation is offering 25 scholarships for student pilots, ranging from $2,500 to $12,000, in 2015. The foundation’s AV8RS program, intended for teenagers 13 through 18, will offer $15,000 in financial assistance for aviation education.
The flight training scholarships are available to flight students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, at least 16 years old, and hold a current FAA student pilot certificate at the time of application. The application can be found online. AV8RS scholarships are open to any teen who is enrolled in the AV8RS program and who is pursuing an aviation-related goal, including a sport, recreational, or private pilot certificate. For more information or to apply, see the website. The deadline for applications is 10 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, August 9.
Building pilots, building dreams
AOPA Homecoming Fly-In welcomes pilots of all levels
By Alyssa J. Miller
More than 3,000 aviation enthusiasts descended on the Frederick Municipal Airport in Frederick, Maryland, June 6 to attend AOPA's Homecoming Fly-In. The Breitling Jet Team performed a flyover, airshow superstar Mike Goulian delighted the spectators, and aircraft of many shapes and sizes—including the Reimagined Cessna 150—delighted fly-in attendees.
Thirty-hour student pilot Rick Mihalinac is working on the cross-country phase of his training with plans to earn his pilot certificate by the end of summer, and he already has his eye on a Cessna 150 that’s been advertised in Trade-A-Plane. So he jumped at the opportunity to come and see AOPA’s Reimagined Cessna 150, which was on display at the AOPA Homecoming Fly-In on June 6 in Frederick, Maryland.
Mihalinac and his wife, Darcy, crawled into the Cessna 150, closed the doors, wiggled around inside to test out the space, and got a feel for the aircraft. It’s not as spacious as sitting in the back seat of a Piper Warrior PA-28-161, Darcy said, comparing the Cessna 150 to her experience riding along on one of her husband’s flight lessons at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. But, for Mihalinac, the Cessna 150 is the “ideal airplane for us for the fun of flight.
“I used to fly with my dad back in the ’70s,” he said. His father died about 15 years ago, and Mihalinac said he “missed flying with him.”
A fly-in in Pennsylvania rekindled Mihalinac’s love of flying, giving him the extra nudge to start flight training, and he can’t wait to share the fun with his wife. “Once I get my license,” he said, “she’ll be my flying buddy.”
The AOPA Homecoming Fly-In offered opportunities for the more than 3,300 attendees to reconnect with the GA community and talk all things aviation. Flight Training columnist Rod Machado received a surprise from a former student at the fly-in.
“This person walked up to me and opened an old logbook to a page with tiny printing. I immediately recognized this as my writing. Then I looked at the date of the endorsements—1975. Chris was a student of mine when he was 14 years old. He could barely afford the airplane rental, so I didn’t charge him for my instruction time. Despite the 40-year time jump, I remembered Chris. He was enthusiastic, a good student, and he loved airplanes,” Machado posted on Facebook after the event (see photo lower left). “He went on to fly for the Air Force for 24 years. What a great feeling to see Chris after all these years, and what a wonderful career he’s had.”
Pilots can make new friends and reconnect with old ones in the aviation community through AOPA’s other regional fly-ins this year. The association will be heading to Minneapolis on August 22; Colorado Springs, Colorado, on September 26; and Tullahoma, Tennessee, on October 10.
Survival training for ramp checks
Smile, be cordial, cooperate
By Alton K. Marsh
Ramp checks can be fun. Let’s start over. Ramp checks can be survived with a little knowledge in advance.
Sometimes the FAA sends inspectors to an airport or an airline to make a routine sampling of compliance with regulations. Often it based on reports or complaints, but just as often it is random. Should it happen to you, you’ll want to know what to expect.
If you want to see the same rules the FAA safety inspector will use for a ramp check, type FSIMS into the search engine of your choice and find the FAA’s Flight Standards Information System, 8900.1. That’s the 10-page document that guides all ramp checks. You’ll want to look at Part 91 under the Surveillance section.
If you want a description in non-government lingo, AOPA has a “Ramp Checks” document online (www.aopa.org; search for “ramp checks”).
The FAA has every right to see that you are legally conducting a flight. That means you have a valid pilot certificate and medical, that the airplane conforms to weight and balance limits, and that the aircraft has only approved modifications, if any.
You have rights, too. Credentials must be presented if you so request, and you should. Ask to see the inspector’s credentials, or more officially, his or her 110A—because the FAA likes to speak in numbers and acronyms.
Misunderstandings can begin with the issue of pilot documents. You have to “present” your pilot certificate to not only the inspector, but also law enforcement or Transportation Security Administration officials. Those officials have the right to handle the documents, to see that they are not forgeries. Sounds all one-sided so far, but know that your documents will not be surrendered to the FAA, law enforcement, or the TSA.
Know that the inspector is playing the same game you played on a school test—which of these objects does not belong? For example, does the airplane have a modified air filter that was not installed by the factory? As FAA inspectors will tell you, many aircraft flunk that test.
Anything out of the ordinary can attract the inspector’s attention. Let’s say you land in a four-seat airplane and you plus three passengers emerge once parked on the ramp. Right away, the inspector will be concerned about whether your aircraft was overweight. The first question you might hear is, “Where did you fly in from?” The inspector is trying to determine if you not only had four people in the aircraft, but had the weight of full fuel tanks as well. At that point he or she might ask to see the pilot operating handbook, and ask you to show that the weights are within limits. Can you work a weight and balance problem under pressure?
The FAA is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get. The best approach is to smile, be cordial, and cooperate. Offer the inspector some chocolates. No money—just chocolates.
SIUC keeps top spot in 2015 NIFA Safecon
Second straight national title for Flying Salukis
Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s flight team held onto the top spot at the 2015 National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (Safecon).
It was the second straight national title for the Flying Salukis, who scored 430 points to beat 28 other collegiate flying teams. Safecon was held May 11 through 16 at The Ohio State University Airport (OSU) in Columbus.
The University of North Dakota UND Flying Team took second place with 395 points. Third went to the Golden Eagles of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona, with 366 points. In fourth place was Western Michigan University’s Sky Broncos with 234 points, and in fifth was The Ohio State University Flight Team with 183 points.
Colleges earn points toward the top award for each student who places in an event. The teams compete in ground and flight events, including navigation, message drop, preflight, power-off landing, and short-field approach and landing.
The top-scoring male pilot was Christian R. Mohan from UND. Mohan also earned the top spot for the national pilot award. The top-scoring female pilot was Elizabeth A. Bates from Western Michigan.
Complete results are available online .
Women in Aviation offers seven new scholarships for 2016
Women in Aviation International (WAI) has announced seven new scholarships, including support for advanced flight training, maintenance training, and academic programs.
The scholarships are among dozens to be awarded at WAI’s twenty-seventh annual International Women in Aviation Conference in Nashville March 10 through 12, 2016. WAI awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships in 2015 in a wide range of aviation professions and opened its 2016 application process July 1.
“WAI scholarships are not simply for scholastic assistance,” said WAI President Peggy Chabrian. “We offer flight training including type ratings and financial assistance for nearly every aviation/aerospace profession from ag flying to engineering. We even have scholarships for those who choose to simply fly for fun.”
New offerings include scholarships for spin training, flight training for an initial or advanced certificate, a baccalaureate degree program in aviation, helicopter maintenance training, a CFI add-on rating, pursuit of a career in aviation and aerospace technology, and exam preparation.
The Ace Aerobatic School Spin Training scholarship, valued at $800, provides a spin training course to an aspiring flight instructor who is already a commercial pilot. Two Blackburn Northwest Flight scholarships award $5,000 for any phase of certification from sport pilot through airline transport pilot. Applicants must be student pilots, and the scholarship is intended for women from the Pacific Northwest.
Women holding a current FAA flight instructor certificate may apply for the Martha King Scholarship for Female Flight Instructors, which provides $5,000 toward flight training for any CFI add-on rating and lifetime access to King Schools Online courses. The scholarship is valued at $13,120 and includes flight instructor refresher courses for life. Three recipients of the MzeroA.com Flight Training Scholarship will receive online courses to prepare for their private, instrument, or commercial knowledge and oral exams as well as full registration to the Women in Aviation conference.
Students pursuing careers in aviation may apply for the Career Eagles Aviation Scholarship, a partnership of the Ohio State University Center for Aviation Studies, the Knowlton Foundation, Youth Aviation Adventure, and the Experimental Aircraft Association. Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to aspiring professional pilots entering a baccalaureate degree program in aviation.
The HAI Helicopter Maintenance Scholarship, valued at $1,000, will be given to someone interested in earning a helicopter mechanic certificate; applicants pursuing an airframe, powerplant, both airframe and powerplant certificate, or the international equivalent will be given preference. The Southern Museum of Flight is offering the $5,000 Mary Alice Beatty Scholarship to women ages 15 to 25 actively seeking careers in aviation and aerospace technology; the scholarship, which honors the namesake originator of the museum, is designed to support job growth for women in aviation and aerospace technology in Alabama, but all applicants will be considered.
Applicants to all scholarships must be WAI members. Information on 2016 scholarships, including further requirements for each, will be available online in July (www.wai.org).
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