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Top Stories
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Slideshow
In a business where timing is everything, Christmas tree growers in the Pacific Northwest rely heavily on helicopters to perform a six-week aerial ballet choreographed with ground crews to spread joy and happiness to millions of families. For the past 40 years, Noble Mountain Tree Farm pilots have perfected a delicate dance they began in 1976, when the Hustle and the Bump ruled discos and dives. Read more and view a slideshow...
 
AOPA Live This Week
Watch a harvest like no other in Oregon, where Christmas trees slip the surly bonds of Earth in a helicopter hoist. Mountain terrain, massive numbers, and a compressed harvesting season require this method, which in turn requires some awesome feats of flying. Luminaries known for their own aviation feats gathered in California to remember and honor the late, great Robert A. "Bob" Hoover. Also this week, AOPA membership is your ticket to fame: The association was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame along with Boeing, the U.S. Coast Guard, and others who make a difference. Watch AOPA Live This Week®, Nov. 23...
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Technique and Safety
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Accident analysis
The desire to make it to the destination leads some pilots to make a trip in the face of hazardous weather or mechanical problems. A tiny minority of general aviation pilots prove, year after year, that ignoring such red flags is a recipe for disaster. Read more in this special report from the AOPA Air Safety Institute...
Webinar
Join AOPA Air Safety Institute Senior Vice President George Perry Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. Eastern time to discuss simple techniques that can increase pilot performance and reduce pilot error. The webinar explores time-tested ways pilots in the safest sectors of aviation are "trained to think" about safety to decrease decision-based human error. Register now...
Video
During a flight, air traffic control asks you to change the transponder code. Should you switch the device to standby mode during the process? The AOPA Air Safety Institute shares one controller's observations in Ask ATC: Transponder Operations. Watch the video...
AOPA Premier Partner created content
Sometimes the most powerful learning experiences are the ones you wish never happened. On this short flight, two experienced pilots nearly ended up becoming a statistic. It was only by chance that the cameras were running and caught it all for later analysis. Here's the behind-the-scenes story of the accident that almost—but didn't—happen. Watch this powerful video from AOPA Premier Partner PilotWorkshops...
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Advocacy
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Advocacy
As the FAA looks to award the Future Flight Services Program contract in 2017, AOPA is working with other industry stakeholders on the Flight Service NAS Efficient Streamlined Services User Group to ensure the contract meets the needs of general aviation pilots. Read more...
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Health
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Pilot Protection Services
Pilots often contact AOPA's medical services team because they either have started blood pressure medication or have an increase in blood pressure and are concerned about how that might impact their upcoming flight physical. AOPA Pilot Information Center Medical Certification Section Director Gary Grump provides some insight. Read more...
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Technology
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Article
Aero Electric Aircraft Corp., the company George Bye created to build the solar-electric Sun Flyer airplane, has secured a temporary FAA registration and conducted ground tests in October, the company announced Nov. 15. Read more...
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Opinion
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Blog
With the holidays now upon us and a polarizing election just behind, many distractions can creep into the cockpit. But news of the day and cranky relatives are not a recipe for a safe and happy flight. Opinion Leaders blogger Amy Laboda writes that pilots have enough on their mind just flying, and maintaining a truly "sterile" cockpit has many advantages, safety chief among them, with relaxation and stress reduction not far behind. Read more...
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Gear
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Pilot magazine
Ken Strickler, chief pilot at Alaska Rainbow Lodge, flies sport fishermen throughout the remote Bristol Bay region near the Bering Sea in de Havilland Beaver floatplanes. Find out what gear he uses that might be perfect for the bush pilot in your life. Read more...
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Travel
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Slideshow
The look of desperation on the children's faces in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew devastated the island nation in early October is an image AOPA Corporate Pilot Mark Evans said he will never forget. Read more and watch a slideshow and video...
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Financial
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Online resource
Tips for selling an aircraft
AOPA experts offer tips from avoiding legal entanglements to making the sale of your aircraft run smoothly in this Selling an Aircraft subject report. Get an overview of what's involved with selling an aircraft; learn what forms are needed, including the bill of sale; find out what you need to do with the aircraft registration; and more.
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News and Notes
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Article
The FAA issued an emergency order Nov. 21 suspending NavWorx, Inc.'s authorization to manufacture certain models of its ADS600-B universal access transceiver. The products provide Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out and In capabilities on the 978 MHz frequency. Read more...
Slideshow
Companies doing business in far-flung places use a wide variety of general aviation aircraft to visit their customers. But as far as Pat Napolitano knows, Queenie, the 1941 Beechcraft Model D biplane he flies on trips representing Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics, is the only Beech Staggerwing flying today as a corporate aircraft. When the airplane turned 75 years old this year, the company threw Queenie a party. Read more and view a slideshow...
Article
Ron Alexander, known among fellow pilots as a "quiet giant" of aviation, died Nov. 17 in a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny aircraft crash near his Peach State Aerodrome home field in Williamson, Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that witnesses saw the vintage aircraft take off before it burst into flames and crashed near the Candler Field Museum's grass landing strip, killing Alexander and an unidentified passenger. Read more...
Article
CubCrafters announced retrofit airframe parachutes in May for light sport and experimental aircraft, and now they can be installed at any of six service centers across the country. Read more...
Article
Jessica Cox earned a black belt in Taekwondo and a pilot certificate, and a host of admirers for achieving these things and more without benefit of arms. Cox, who was born without arms, has long encouraged others to overcome their own challenges and is the subject of an award-winning documentary, Right Footed, now available on DVD. Read more...
Article
Storytelling galore dominated the celebration of life for revered aviator Robert A. "Bob" Hoover, just the way the great storyteller himself would have wanted it. Hoover, who died Oct. 25 at age 94, was known for his ability to keep an audience spellbound with his countless flying stories spanning a lifetime in aviation. Read more...
Article
Seventy-seven-year-old AOPA was among an esteemed class of aviation and aerospace pioneers inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum Nov. 17. The black-tie affair brought together a diverse group of entities that share the common thread of making a difference in aviation and aerospace. Read more...
Podcast
Aviation legends John and Martha King have produced thousands of products through King Schools, and they continue to delight audiences with a playful back and forth that anyone who's married can appreciate. Not only do the Kings live and work together, they fly together as well. Tune in to this week's Hangar Talk podcast to hear who they say is the better pilot and how they keep things fun and safe in the cockpit. Listen to the podcast...
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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 government affairs federal and state vice president, Great Lakes regional manager, account executive, annual giving manager, donor relations director, high school aviation initiative manager, New York You Can Fly ambassador, aviation technical specialist, UI/front-end developer, and marketing specialist. 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 started your flight review with a local CFI, but the weather moved in and you were only able to complete the ground portion. Unfortunately, the CFI won't be available again for weeks. Can you complete the flight portion of the review with a different instructor? If so, do you have to complete the ground portion again? What is the correct way to proceed?
Answer
Yes, you may complete the flight portion with a different instructor. The correct procedure is to get two separate endorsements: one from the CFI that did the ground portion with you, and one from the CFI that is doing the flight (provided the flight is successful). This procedure ensures that each CFI is endorsing you only for the portion you completed with that CFI—and you don't have to repeat the ground portion. (See this FAA letter of interpretation.) The FAA recently updated the guidance for instructors concerning flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks; a review of this guidance is a good idea for instructors and pilots. For information on the updates and links to the updated material, see this AOPA Online article.
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
Dec 3-4 - Denver, Colorado; and Orlando, Florida
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 20-21 - San Antonio, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Long Beach, California
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 3 - Tyler, Texas; Scottsdale, Arizona; Panama City Beach, Florida; and Pembroke Pines, Florida
Dec 8 - Bartow, Florida
Dec 10 - Dallas, Texas; Newnan, Georgia; Long Beach, California; and Smithfield, North Carolina
Dec 17 - Fort Myers, Florida
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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