Training Tips
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Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce
It's a life-changing event, the making of a memory, a tangible reward for the hard work you have invested in learning how to fly. Your first solo is a major moment for another member of your team: For a flight instructor, sending a student pilot out solo is the culmination of some very specific training goals, and it also requires making judgments not possible to completely itemize on paper. Read more...
 
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Flight Training News
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You Can Fly
AOPA has awarded $5,000 scholarships to 21 high school students through the association's You Can Fly High School Aviation Initiative. The scholarships, awarded to current high school students ages 15 to 18 who intend to earn an initial pilot certificate, were made possible by donations to the AOPA Foundation. Read more...
Video
Margins of Safety: Low Altitude Maneuvering, the fourth and final installment in the AOPA Air Safety Institute's Margins of Safety video series, explores how to maneuver aircraft safely down low. Although it is something we do on every flight without giving it much thought—and it's not very different from maneuvering at altitude—slow speed and low altitude decrease the margins for error. Watch the video...
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Article
FAA certification of the tandem-seat Calidus gyrocopter by AutoGyro located in Germany means U.S. flight schools can now train gyrocopter pilots and rent out the aircraft. Read more...
Online resource
The AOPA Air Safety Institute's latest CFI to CFI digital newsletter explains why it's critical to employ the checklist with care, when needed. Also, learn why pilots shouldn't hesitate to ask for help when in trouble, trade flight training tips, and explore the challenges and opportunities new flight instructors face. Not a subscriber yet? Add the free quarterly newsletter to your flight bag. Read more...
Hillsboro Aero Academy, Horizon Air ink deal
Portland, Oregon's Hillsboro Aero Academy announced a partnership with Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, to provide a tuition stipend to qualified student pilots pursuing an aviation career; participants also could receive a conditional job offer with the airline. Hillsboro Academy students who have completed their private pilot certificate and are working toward their commercial certificate are eligible for the new program.
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AOPA Live
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AOPA Live This Week
The FAA has issued a cease-and-desist order demanding that the city of Santa Monica, California, stop trying to force out airport tenants. Also this week, re-creating the Wright Flyer from scratch; and a sixteenth birthday trio of solos in a 1946 Piper Cub, a vintage Stearman, and a T-6 Texan for Aaron Tippin's son. Watch AOPA Live This Week®, Dec. 15...
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Plane Spotter
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Power to the parachute
It's a calm morning at a country airstrip. The rear-mounted engine of a three-wheeled vehicle ignites, and its pusher propeller begins to turn. As the machine rolls forward, a parachute canopy rises from the turf behind. Lines tighten as the parachute’s cells inflate, and the powered parachute ascends above the treetops. Once a rare sight, powered parachutes and their aero-sport relatives have grown in popularity since the first powered parachute flew in 1981. In 2005, the first sport pilot certificate with powered parachute privileges was issued to a Pennsylvania pilot.
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Training Products and Resources
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Aviator Folio kneeboards secure tablets
Aviator Folio kneeboards from MyGoFlight fit regular and mini iPads and other tablets, and feature a padded leather outer case, four molded clips to cradle a variety of devices, and an elastic band to secure the device on a pilot's thigh. A turntable allows users to rotate the device between portrait and landscape views. During testing, the iPad Mini Universal Kneeboard Folio C remained centered and secured. The magnetic metal clipboard with printed VFR and IFR reminders made a nice platform for taking notes; however, a pen holder would be helpful. The Aviator Folio kneeboards are available in two sizes—9-10" and 7-8"—for $129.
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Note: Products listed have not been evaluated by ePilot editors unless otherwise noted. AOPA assumes no responsibility for products or services listed or for claims or actions by manufacturers or vendors.
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Member Benefits
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AOPA Aviation Finance
The airplane you bought five years ago needs an engine overhaul, and while you're at it, you might as well update that panel. How will you pay for these improvements? AOPA Aviation Finance Co. President Adam Meredith offers some advice. Read more...
Member benefit
AOPA Insurance Services Vice President and Director of Operations Jim Pinegar shares three tips he considers before flying his Cessna in cold weather. Read more...
Pilot Protection Services
An aircraft's certificate of registration may not receive much attention, except for a pilot confirming that it is carried aboard the aircraft or the owner submitting a renewal every three years. However, Part 47, Aircraft Registration, of the federal aviation regulations, includes several requirements that some aircraft owners and pilots may not be aware of until a ramp check or pilot deviation investigation. Read more...
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Blogs
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Mergers are sensitive topics to affected employees and often linger as sore spots for decades. With all the mergers that have taken place in the airline industry in the past 20 years, be careful bringing up the topic with airline pilots, cautions Flight Training blogger and airline pilot Chip Wright. He offers tips for how to navigate such conversations tactfully. Read more...
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Final Exam
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Question
Must a medical certificate be printed on both sides to be valid?
Answer
Traditionally the "Conditions of Issue" were printed on the back of FAA medical certificates. Today many medical certificates are printed on one side, and the Conditions of Issue are listed next to the pilot information. You should fold this section rather than remove it—the form includes a "fold here" indication. According to the FAA Aerospace Medical Certification Division, removing the Conditions of Issue section is viewed as "altering the certificate," which is prohibited by 14 CFR 67.403(a)(4). If you have removed the side page, you may order a replacement certificate online.
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Did you know that student pilots who join AOPA are three times more likely to complete their flight training? Membership includes unlimited access to aviation information by phone (800/USA-AOPA, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time) or from AOPA Online. Got a question for our technical services staff? Contact AOPA.
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Career Opportunities
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AOPA career opportunities
Ever dream of turning your passion for aviation into a career? AOPA is looking for a travel and destination products director, program administration manager, account executive, donor relations director, New York You Can Fly ambassador, aviation technical specialist, and aviation financial analyst. To learn more about these and other AOPA career opportunities, visit AOPA Online.
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 Education and Seminars
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Flight Instructor Refresher Courses
Jan 7-8 - Charlotte, North Carolina; Rockford, Tennessee; Santa Clara, California; and Ypsilanti, Michigan
Jan 14-15 - Bellevue, Washington; Elkridge, Maryland; and Ridgeland, Mississippi
Jan 21-22 - San Antonio, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Long Beach, California
Feb 11-12 - Fort Worth, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashua, New Hampshire; and Kenner, Louisiana
For a complete schedule, see AOPA Online. Can't make it in person? Sign up for the Air Safety Institute's Online eFIRC.
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Air Safety Institute Safety Seminars
Jan 9 - Reno, Nevada
Jan 10 - Sacramento, California; and Houston, Texas
Jan 11 - Milpitas, California; and San Antonio, Texas
Jan 12 - Austin, Texas; and Santa Rosa, California
Topics vary—for details and a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.
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Rusty Pilots Seminars
Dec 17 - Fort Myers, Florida
Jan 7 - Lebanon, Tennessee
Jan 14 - Bucyrus, Ohio; Bethany, Oklahoma; Stevensville, Maryland; Fort Myers, Florida; and Columbus, Georgia
For a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.
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ePilot Flight Training Editors:
Alyssa Miller
Jim Moore
David Tulis
Production Assistant:
Melissa Whitehouse
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Contributors:
Mike Collins
Sarah Deener
Dave Hirschman
Tom Horne
Alton K. Marsh
Warren Morningstar
Dan Namowitz
Jill W. Tallman
Ian J. Twombly
Julie Summers Walker
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