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Top Stories
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Advocacy
The FAA's new BasicMed program that will soon allow many pilots to fly without a third class medical certificate is expected to save pilots and the FAA millions of dollars over the first 10 years, according to an agency economic analysis. Read more...
 
AOPA Live This Week
After many years of rain and wind, the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, has finally caught a break. AOPA Editor in Chief Tom Haines shows you what's to see at this long-running event. Follow pilot Robby Schoepflin as he flies his grandfather's Cessna 172 to sprawling golden farm fields in the Pacific Northwest, where he puts a camera-toting drone to work helping farmers maximize crop yield. Also, see the latest update to Garmin's aviation-friendly camera in action. Watch AOPA Live This Week®, Jan. 26...
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Technique and Safety
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Accident analysis
Lots of aircraft have their quirks—subtle differences between similar models. That doesn't make them unsafe, as long as pilots know the equipment and how to operate it. Read more in this special report from the AOPA Air Safety Institute.
Aircraft Maintenance
Pilot and A&P Jeff Simon provides a brief primer on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) to help you select the right ADS-B solution for your aircraft. Read more...
Video
In Weather Wise: VFR Flight Planning, the AOPA Air Safety Institute offers strategies to get the big weather picture before flying and when confronted with weather that isn't obviously excellent or terrible. Learn how to reach the right go/no-go decision, especially when assessing marginal or changing conditions. Watch the video...
Online resource
Ready for more power?
If you have returned to flying after a long time away and want to fly a high-performance aircraft, you will need to check that you have the correct endorsement in your logbook. In 1997, the FAA changed its definition of high-performance aircraft, so there are separate definitions and endorsements for high-performance and complex aircraft. Read AOPA's subject report to find out if your endorsement still qualifies. Also learn how to prepare yourself for transitioning to high-performance or other aircraft in the AOPA Air Safety Institute's free online course.
Login required
Whether you are in training or already instrument rated, you'll appreciate the AOPA Air Safety Institute's IFR Insights: A Practical Approach online course. Bolster your knowledge beyond the "Five Ts" and discover tips, techniques, and procedures that seasoned pilots, instructors, and air traffic controllers use to reduce workload in IFR flying. Take the course...
Survey
Have you ever experienced symptoms of hypoxia while flying? An Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student is surveying pilots to learn how many have experienced hypoxia and to gather details of any hypoxic incidents they encountered. The survey is an effort to compile statistics about surviving hypoxia during flight. Pilots who wish to participate can complete the free 14-question survey anonymously. Take the survey...
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Advocacy
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Advocacy
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to replace Signature Flight Support at John Wayne Airport with California-based ACI Jet on Jan. 24. The decision came after concerns about high fixed-base operation prices at the airport. Read more...
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Health
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Pilot Protection Services
Pilots comply with air traffic control clearances, but they aren't always as good at listening to doctors. Dr. Jonathan Sackier offers advice to help you take better control of your health and comply with doctors' orders. Read more...
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Technology
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Article
Longtime flight instructor and Maui Flight Academy owner Laurence Balter will happily show you every bell and whistle in the glass cockpit of his Cirrus SR22, and he will just as happily shut it all off—covering every instrument except the angle of attack indicator. That, in Balter's view, is the only instrument a pilot really needs. Yet many still go without. Read more...
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Opinion
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Blog
During a trip from the West Coast to the East Coast in his Cessna 310, Opinion Leaders blogger Mike Busch discovered a problem with his ignition system that proved difficult to pinpoint. After changing sparkplugs and inspecting the magnetos, Busch traced the problem to the ignition harness. Find out what he learned. Read more...
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Gear
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Article
Only a select few pilots have ever attempted the intricate, high-G courses of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, but now you can find out firsthand what it's like to compete against the world's best racers, low to the ground, at 200 knots. Red Bull Air Race–The Game is available for free download (exclusively for PC), having won fans during beta testing by the online gaming community GamesCom. Read more...
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Travel
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Pilot Getaways
Hidden in one of the most picturesque parts of Wyoming, you'll find the Red Reflet Guest Ranch. This all-inclusive luxury resort on a working Black Angus cattle ranch offers advanced pilot training and a vast array of outdoor activities. The ranch has its own private airport and offers pilots opportunities to develop skills in aircraft maintenance and mountain flying, or even earn a Citation type rating. Read more and view a slideshow...
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Financial
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AOPA Aviation Finance
If you are interested in buying your first airplane or obtaining aircraft financing, Adam Meredith, president of the AOPA Aviation Finance Co., explains the paperwork you'll need to provide to apply for financing as well as other information to help you through the process. Read more...
AOPA member benefits
Earning an instrument rating can help reduce your insurance rate, but how much? AOPA Insurance Services Vice President and Director of Operations Jim Pinegar explains. Read more...
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News and Notes
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Article
The Oshkosh, Wisconsin, home of Experimental Aircraft Association Founder Paul Poberezny will soon open to the public, offering a glimpse inside the world of one of general aviation's most famous names. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co. announced it has purchased the Poberezny estate and will make it available for visits through EAA beginning this summer. Read more...
Article
Rolls-Royce North America has transplanted the company's heritage museum from the factory in southwestern Indianapolis to the company's downtown location near Lucas Oil Stadium in an effort to draw larger crowds. Read more...
Article
A rearrangement of displays and layout has made the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, more visitor-friendly, and the weekend forecast, while not perfect, is a marked improvement over recent years. The thirteenth edition of the show that focuses primarily on light sport aircraft and flying for fun also has embraced unmanned aviation, with drone pilots racing for cash prizes. Read more...
Podcast
Every pilot dreams of flying around the world, but few have done so. Award-winning mechanic Adrian Eichhorn describes his solo flight around the world in a Beechcraft Bonanza. Listen to the podcast...
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Career Opportunities
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Aviation job board
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based T. J. Snow Co., a manufacturer of resistance welding machinery for more than 53 years, is seeking a field service tech/pilot to handle its expanding welder and control service installation business. This is an ideal job for an experienced pilot who is skilled in troubleshooting and repairing electro-mechanical machinery. The company, which has 95 employees, will train the right applicant. Read the full job description and apply today!
AOPA career opportunities
Ever dream of turning your passion for aviation into a career? AOPA is looking for a legal services plan attorney, accountant, graphic designer and digital asset manager, aviation event operations senior manager, flying clubs initiative director, travel and destination products director, insurance program administration manager, account executive, donor relations director, aviation technical specialist, and aviation financial analyst. 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 own an aircraft that never had an engine-driven electrical system, but it has a battery-fed system that runs the radio when you need it. You never had to equip with a transponder because the aircraft was exempt under 14 CFR 91.215(b)(3). The FAA's mandate to equip with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out, as described in 14 CFR 91.225, does not include the words "engine driven." Must you equip for ADS-B Out because your aircraft has a battery-fed electrical system?
Answer
No. According to this FAA letter of interpretation, the difference in wording was not meant to change anything concerning exemptions, and the same aircraft that were exempt from transponder equipage are exempt from ADS-B Out equipage.
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
Feb 11-12 - Fort Worth, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashua, New Hampshire; and Kenner, Louisiana
Feb 18-19 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Lake Mary, Florida; and Sacramento, California
Feb 25-26 - Fairfax, Virginia; and Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 4-5 - Lake Mary, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and Virginia Beach, Virginia
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 31 - Fort Worth, Texas
Feb 1 - Addison, Texas; and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Feb 7 - Germantown, Tennessee; and Northglenn, Colorado
Feb 8 - Nashville, Tennessee; and Colorado Springs, Colorado
Topics vary—for details and a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.
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Rusty Pilots Seminars
Jan 27 - Sebring, Florida
Jan 28 - Las Cruces, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; Bethany, Oklahoma; Seattle, Washington; and Greencastle, Indiana
Feb 4 - Hammond, Louisiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Friday Harbor, Washington; and Murrieta, California
Feb 11 - Houston, Texas; Watkins, Colorado; and Fort Myers, Florida
For a complete schedule, see AOPA Online.
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ePilot Editors:
Alyssa Miller
Jim Moore
Dan Namowitz
David Tulis
Production Team:
Elizabeth Linares
Melissa Whitehouse
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Contributors:
Mike Collins
Sarah Deener
Dave Hirschman
Tom Horne
Warren Morningstar
Jill W. Tallman
Ian J. Twombly
Julie Summers Walker
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