September 2, 2016 - VOL 16, ISSUE 36

Flight Training News

AOPA Foundation focus

AOPA Foundation awards scholarships

Fifteen individuals have been selected as winners of the 2016 AOPA Flight Training Scholarships, a program designed to help aviation trainees of all ages earn a pilot certificate. The scholarships are funded by donations to the AOPA Foundation. The 2016 winners include seven female aviators, an active-duty Marine, four high-school- and college-aged student pilots, and one recipient in his fifties. They will receive grants ranging from $2,500 to $12,000. Read more...  

Seminar

Take part in 'Trivia Night!'

How long did Charles Lindbergh go without sleep during his transatlantic flight? What piece of equipment "caused" Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 to crash? Find out when you attend the AOPA Air Safety Institute's new 90-minute fall seminar—brought to you by AOPA Insurance—which will be offered at various locations across the United States. Test your knowledge of the arcane, explore safety issues behind the trivia, and become a safer pilot. Check dates and locations, and mark your calendar...  

Video

Battle Creek Fly-In coming soon

Get ready to land at Michigan's W.K. Kellogg Airport and join fellow pilots and aviation enthusiasts at the AOPA Fly-In in Battle Creek, Sept. 16 and 17. From Friday's Barnstormers Party to the aircraft displays and exhibits, the fun starts when you arrive at the airport. But first, watch the fly-in procedures video, and download the pilot information packet at the end of the video. Watch the video...  

Scholarships

Article

Able Flight opens 2017 scholarship window

With eight new pilots receiving their wings in July, Able Flight has opened its scholarship window for 2017. Read more...  

Article

Aerosim offers scholarship for veterans

Aerosim Flight Academy in Orlando, Florida, is offering scholarships for qualified veterans who want to become professional pilots. Read more...  

Plane Spotter

Backcountry Highlander

Experimental and light sport aircraft are making their mark on backcountry aviation, whether you spot a completed kitplane on floats for water landings or configured as a taildragger with oversized tundra tires for landings at unimproved airstrips. One such machine is the Highlander, manufactured by Just Aircraft of Walhalla, South Carolina. With its trademark gullwing doors, an eight-inch tailwheel, longer wing, larger tail surfaces than its predecessor, and vortex generators, the aircraft can take off (or land) in 300 feet, then climb 880 feet per minute, according to the manufacturer.

Training Products and Resources

FAA updates free weather advisory circular

The FAA recently updated its Aviation Weather Advisory Circular, AC 00-6B, to reflect modern weather technology. The advisory circular is available as a free PDF download. John Barbagallo, the agency's deputy director of flight standards, wrote Aug. 23 that the publication began as Meteorology for Pilots in 1943 and grew into the Aviation Weather Advisory Circular to reflect "current weather services and formats." The Aviation Weather Services Advisory Circular, AC 00-45G, also is available as a free PDF download.

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.

Member Benefits

Pilot Protection Services

FAA: Fix faulty fuel gauges

Pilots are taught not to rely on gauges alone to determine fuel quantity. A visual check of fuel in the tanks during preflight inspection to verify quantity is the prudent practice. But can you fly with a faulty fuel gauge? Find out what the FAA says. Read more...  

Blogs

Pilots, listen up

When frustrated passengers seek uniformed pilots to remedy their travel problems, the best defense is a good offense, advises Flight Training blogger Chip Wright. Pilots should act professionally and listen carefully to "pull out the nugget of information that really represents the root cause of the problem." Read more...  

Instrument Tip

IFR Fix

The VCOA option

Here's a drill you probably didn't practice on your last proficiency flight: the VCOA option. Do so on your next ride and it may be a learning experience for you, your instrument flight instructor, and even air traffic control. Read more...  

Final Exam

Question

While planning a cross-country flight to a nontowered airport, I noticed a note in the FAA's chart supplement that said "Rgt tfc" for one of the runways. Does that mean the runway will be on the right side of the airplane when I am flying the downwind leg?

Answer

You are correct. In a right traffic pattern, you will fly the same entry and legs as a left traffic pattern; however, the runway will be on your right rather than on your left. It might feel a bit odd the first time you fly it, but after a few times around the pattern you will be as comfortable as you are flying the standard left traffic pattern. Runways might have right traffic patterns for various reasons—one of the most popular is to keep aircraft from overflying populated areas like a housing development. For more on traffic pattern entries, read the AOPA Air Safety Institute's Operations at Nontowered Airports Safety Advisor.

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.

Career Opportunities

AOPA career opportunities

Join the AOPA team

Ever dream of turning your passion for aviation into a career? AOPA is looking for a government affairs federal and state vice president, administrative coordinator, Central Southwest regional manager, account executive, donor relations director, development communications director, flying clubs initiative senior manager, communications director, New York You Can Fly ambassador, aviation technical specialist, product marketing specialist, advertising-marketing coordinator, and member services representative. To learn more about these and other AOPA career opportunities, visit AOPA Online.