Northwest Aviation Conference packed with options
The agenda for the thirty-fourth Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show Feb. 25 and 26 in Puyallup, Washington, is packed with safety seminars, an expansive trade show, and a professional career expo. Aviators can choose from 75 hours of seminars covering a variety of subjects, visit some of the more than 400 exhibitors, or attend a pre-trade show career forum Feb. 24 with representatives from national, regional, and local air carriers.
Plus, the Washington Seaplane Pilots Association has invited all conference attendees to Boeing Field’s Museum of Flight Feb. 24 for the association’s annual Grounded Hogs Dinner.
Aviation conference and trade show attendees can participate in a variety of sessions including AOPA’s Rusty Pilots seminar developed by the association’s You Can Fly initiative to help lapsed pilots get their wings current again. The lively ground school discussion is framed by real-world scenarios to assist pilots re-entering aviation after the passage of third class medical reforms. Rusty Pilots seminars are hosted across the country and satisfy the ground portion of the flight review. More than 45 percent of those who attended a Rusty Pilots seminar in 2016 completed their flight review.
Additionally, the Seaplane Pilots Association will discuss the advantages of flights on floats; the FAA will present Wings safety seminars; and other specialists will discuss topics including tailwheel techniques, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast equipage, drone operations, and more. Refresher training seminars for mechanics cover oxygen safety and component maintenance, vibration analysis and propeller balancing, electronic ignition systems, landing gear maintenance, corrosion prevention, and more.
The pre-show career forum will be of special note to students and career-oriented pilots. Attendees will hear from industry experts discussing regional flying opportunities, educational options, and specific piloting tracks to airlines, helicopters, and the military. Representatives from Horizon Air, Alaska Airlines, Rainier Flight Service, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Aviation Supplies and Academics, and others also will be on hand to answer questions.
The conference near Pierce County-Thun Field Airport is hosted by the Washington Aviation Association, a group of businesses with an interest in aviation and who value the rights of pilots and the aviation industry. Organized in 1938 as an informal coalition of aviation businesses, the association was formalized into a nonprofit corporation in 1948 to confront problems of the industry and build a stable and prosperous future.
