Flight Training Magazine

As a new pilot in 2002, I was proficient at takeoffs, cruise flight, and landing—but I wanted more. I wanted to go places, fulfill some of the goals I’d made for myself as a student pilot.

“Oh, man, I’d love to learn to fly, but….”

Explore more training topics in our expanded online content hub aopa.org/ft

As a new pilot in 2002, I was proficient at takeoffs, cruise flight, and landing—but I wanted more. I wanted to go places, fulfill some of the goals I’d made for myself as a student pilot.

“Oh, man, I’d love to learn to fly, but….”

By Bruce Williams

When connected to GPS navigators such as the Garmin GTN series, modern autopilots like the Garmin GFC 500 and GFC 600 can use vertical navigation (VNAV) to fly smooth, precise profiles through a series of step-downs prior to the final approach fix during instrument approaches and while descending via standard terminal arrival routes (STARs).

In late May 2023, a passenger on an Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 seconds away from landing in South Korea managed to wrestle open one of the emergency exit doors, which blew the escape slide/raft.

By John W. Olcott

Alliteration, the purposeful use of a repetitious sound in nearby words or phrases, is a memory aid in aviation training.

Your typical training airplane flies behind an aluminum or carbon fiber propeller.

AOPA’s Aviator Showcase will be held at the National Aviation Community Center at AOPA headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, September 8 and 9.

Night flying can be beautiful and peaceful. Like a portal to an unknown world, cruising along on a smooth night with a full sky of stars and a quiet radio frequency is a place only pilots get to know or experience. Unfortunately, that peaceful vibe contains numerous increased risks that must be respected before we can relax and enjoy the view.

The VL3 is a leader among the European ultralight category.

Hundreds of children and their parents were entertained in June by dozens of general aviation pilots who landed their aircraft at the busy Dulles International Airport.

The week of June 5, East Coast pilots’ social media feeds were abuzz.

Why car camp when you can airplane camp?

By Glenn Ponas

How can you be a champion for aviation education in your community?

Design and safety innovations for cars seem to happen decades ahead of general aviation.

As a pilot in training, you’ll be required to plan a flight and then fly the plan for at least one night cross-country.

I’m from an era when seat belts in cars were not mandatory.

Striking out from Maine to Alaska solo in a Cessna 150 was only a small beginning for Lydia Jacobs, now 25, in search of the greater flying opportunities Alaska promised.

Join AOPA at Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina, for the sixteenth annual Triple Tree Fly-In September 18 through 24.

By Vincent Valentine

In 1978, I was a college sophomore when I went skydiving, and it was a blast. Being in the air was invigorating. I had no fear.

The magnetos that power traditional aircraft ignition systems are antiquated, inefficient, and maintenance intensive, but they have one saving grace: If the aircraft electrical system fails, magnetos continue operating normally without missing a beat.

An Air France crew’s spectacular failure to get along in flight resulted in two pilots coming to blows (and getting suspended), and it brought to the fore a question I’ve long held but never asked out loud: What’s the right way to fly with pilots we just don’t like?

My landings were fine, and then they weren’t. After months of routine touchdowns, one day I flared too high, and the airplane dropped firmly onto the runway. No worries; ungraceful landings happen sometimes.