AOPA Comms and Research Specialist Amelia Walsh joined AOPA in 2017. Named after the famous aviatrix, she's a private pilot working on her instrument rating in a Colombia 350.
Your pilot logbook is your aviation résumé. It documents your education, skills, certifications, and work experience. And, like a résumé, you will need to present your logbook(s) at every pilot job interview for the rest of your career.
It began with a discovery flight. Jess Ellwanger’s interest in aviation blossomed when his father sent him aloft as a gift for his fourteenth birthday. From there he continued training through high school, passed his checkride at 18, and moved on to instrument and commercial ratings. It was not until he became a CFI in 2020, though, that came to appreciate the importance of pairing compatible students and instructors.
On a recent flight with an instructor, operating a new-to-me aircraft type, I was once again reminded that mistakes happen, even to the best pilots, and also to the best air traffic controllers.
In primary training, go-arounds are practiced routinely to ensure student pilots are comfortable aborting a landing if, for any number of reasons, the pilot deems it unsafe to continue. But what about aborting a takeoff?