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Top Stories
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Slideshow
A visit to the USS George Washington aircraft carrier provides a glimpse into the life of service members who toil around the globe on our behalf to maintain the freedoms we enjoy this holiday weekend. Never content with the status quo, flight test pilots demonstrate a new system for making carrier landings safer and more efficient.
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AOPA Live This Week
Go inside the Boeing factory for an exclusive look at how the behemoth airliners are built—and learn how you can have this and other cool experiences during the AOPA Fly-In in Bremerton, Washington, in August. Also this week, we get "trapped" on the USS George Washington and honor those who are serving our country; pay tribute to a legendary aviation journalist and former AOPA employee; and host a group of Cub Scouts excited about aviation.
Watch AOPA Live This Week®, June 30...
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AOPA Fly-Ins
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Article
Disneyland would fit inside The Boeing Co.'s factory, as would the Pentagon, the Taj Mahal, and the Egyptian pyramids. Overall, 40,000 people work in the factory operating three shifts per day, Monday through Friday, and the facility is akin to a small city with its own security, fire, and medical teams. Get an up-close look at the Boeing 737, 747, 767, 777, and 787 in a VIP tour of the Everett, Washington, plant.
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A nine-story-tall roofed addition to the Museum of Flight opened to the public June 25 across the road from Boeing Field/King County International Airport in Seattle. The first Boeing 737 and 747 jets, a British Airways Concorde, World War II-era B-17F and B-29 bombers, and "jet fighters spanning the wars from Korea to the Persian Gulf" are housed in the new display with other historic aircraft. The three-acre Aviation Pavilion augments more than 175 aircraft and spacecraft already on display.
Find out more...
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Technique and Safety
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IFR Fix
Customs officers were waiting for a twin-engine Piper PA-44-180 Seminole to land in Houlton, Maine, from an international ferry flight in predawn fog and darkness Aug. 27, 2015, when an impact was heard.
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Login required
Take the AOPA Air Safety Institute's Weather Wise: VFR into IMC course to learn why it's best to stay on the ground when the weather is not on your side. Find out how you can avoid getting wedged between terrain and lowering ceilings, and get the weather facts that will guide your decisions when the lines are blurred.
Take the course...
Video
How should you request and receive a clearance for "VFR on top," and what is expected from you and air traffic control?
Watch this installment of Ask ATC...
Video
You train to handle in-flight emergencies, but do you know what to do next? In Survive: Beyond the Forced Landing, the AOPA Air Safety Institute shares how to keep everyone safe until help arrives.
Watch the video...
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Advocacy
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Advocacy
Wildfires have razed hundreds of homes and blackened hundreds of thousands of acres across the western states, and the 2016 fire season is just getting started. Hazards affecting airmen include smoke, convection, and potential conflicts with aircraft working to contain the fires. Pilots are urged to pay particular attention to temporary flight restrictions, and give them a wide berth.
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Advocacy
The prospect of a $500 rebate for installing Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipment is far from the only reason to equip sooner than later. NextGen newcomers will find the system is already delivering technological tools that enhance safety, take situational awareness to the next level, and save critical time locating a stricken aircraft in an emergency.
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Webinar
AOPA Pilot Technical Editor Mike Collins and Lancaster Avionics Manager Todd Adams will provide a systematic approach to equipping your aircraft with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out during a webinar July 13 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Register today...
Advocacy
Airport reports noting winter runway conditions and expected braking action will be clearer for pilots landing and taking off after Oct. 1, when more concise terms and new procedures take effect.
Read more...
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Health
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Pilot Protection Services
Check out some of the common questions AOPA's medical experts receive and learn how their advice could help you with your medical certification.
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Technology
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Article
Cirrus Aircraft in May received FAA approval for customers to install external cameras, sensors, and communications equipment on the Cirrus G5.
Read more...
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Opinion
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Blog
Did you know the Diamond DA20 airframe has a temperature limit of 55 degrees Celsius? Or that the limit is 72 degrees Celsius for the Extra 300? How about the temperature limits for cockpit system displays, life rafts, and main aircraft batteries on the Gulfstream IV? When it comes to flying in extreme heat or cold, Opinion Leaders blogger Ron Rapp reminds pilots to be aware of their aircraft's limits, as well as their own.
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Gear
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Article
A Wisconsin company developing an eight-cylinder aviation diesel engine from the ground up has demonstrated to the U.S. Air Force that the Engineered Propulsion Systems Graflight 8 can handle a variety of propellers and missions.
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Article
FltPlan.com, the free, web-based flight planning and integrated flight plan filing service, has added new features to its electronic logbook and simplified the user interface.
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Travel
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Slideshow
Travelers and merchants alike have been attracted to Italy's Lake Como from time immemorial. The ancient Romans called it Larius, George Clooney calls it home. This glacial lake nestled in the folds of the Alps and lined by picturesque villages, majestic villas, and mountains covered with foliage ranging from palm trees to cypresses, is one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe. Lake Como has proved the ideal location for the seaplane operation Aero Club Como.
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Financial
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AOPA Aviation Finance
If you've got your eye on an older jet, but you know you will need bank financing—shop wisely.
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News and Notes
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Slideshow
Surrounded by general aviation aircraft and flight simulators, more than 160 Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., Cub Scouts participated in a five-day Expedition Galactic day camp to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math concepts at AOPA's Frederick, Maryland, campus.
View the slideshow...
Article
Doc, one of seven B-29s named for Snow White's dwarfs, has hard-won approval from the Pentagon to conduct shakeout flights from McConnell Air Force Base.
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Article
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University pilots Emmy Dillon and Abbie Pasmore took first place overall, as well as first place in the collegiate division of the 2016 Air Race Classic. The overall win was a first for their school. The Riddle Racers Gold team was among more than 50 teams of pilots, all of them women, who completed the 2,716-mile winding route between two Embry-Riddle campuses.
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Article
Charles Spence, veteran aviation journalist, newspaperman, pilot, and former AOPA senior vice president of public relations, died on June 23. He was 94.
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Article
Thomas William Wathen, who rescued California's historic Flabob Airport from becoming a housing development and made it the center of his charitable mission to use aviation to inspire lifelong learning, died June 20 with his wife, Carol, at his side. He was 86.
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Webinar
Remember the exciting adventures you've had exploring new areas in airplanes? AOPA's new Rusty Pilots 2.0 seminar will walk you through a fun cross-country trip with the family to satisfy the ground portion of the flight review, making getting back into the left seat fun and easy. Learn more about the program and the new Rusty Pilots Resource Guide during a webinar July 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Register today...
Member benefit
How do you get the best value for your insurance dollar and find out whether you are still covered if your medical has expired? Are you covered when flying from the right seat or landing at backcountry airstrips? What are the most common reasons for insurance claim denials? AOPA Insurance Services provides answers to these most-asked questions.
Read more...
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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 an aviation technical specialist, fundraising specialist, government affairs federal and state vice president, member services representative, Great Lakes regional manager, communications director, donor relations director, AOPA Foundation communications director, and marketing copywriter. To learn more about these and other AOPA career opportunities,
visit AOPA Online.
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Question of the Week
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Question
You've started training for a rotorcraft add-on rating and are about to do your first helicopter solo flight. Before starting this training, you hadn't flown for a couple of years, and your instructor says you need to complete a flight review in a single-engine airplane before you can solo. Is this true? If so, why can't your instructor just sign you off?
Answer
Yes, you must have a current flight review to act as pilot in command in any aircraft, including one for which you've just received a solo endorsement. Because you have a pilot certificate you must comply with 14 CFR 61.56, even when you're operating on an instructor's solo endorsement. Your rotorcraft instructor can't give you a flight review because you aren't yet rated in a helicopter; the flight review must be done in an aircraft in which you're currently rated. Read this FAA letter of interpretation.
Got a question for our technical services staff? Contact AOPA.
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Education and Seminars
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Flight Instructor Refresher Courses
Jul 9-10 - Coraopolis, Pennsylvania; and Elizabeth, New Jersey
Jul 23-24 - Jacksonville, Florida; and Memphis, Tennessee
Aug 6-7 - Atlanta, Georgia; Fort Worth, Texas; and Long Beach, California
Aug 20-21 - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Reno, Nevada
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
Jul 9 - Alpine, Wyoming
Jul 27-30 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Sep 6 - Wichita, Kansas; Madison, Wisconsin; and Seattle, Washington
Sep 7 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Portland, Oregon
Topics vary—for details and a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.
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Rusty Pilots Seminars
Jul 9 - Savannah, Georgia
Jul 16 - San Marcos, Texas; and West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
Jul 27 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Aug 13 - Fort Worth, Texas
For a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.
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ePilot 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
Elizabeth Tennyson
Ian J. Twombly
Julie Summers Walker
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