The official name of the facility is New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane Base, or as seaplane pilots know it, 6N7.

The official name of the facility is New York Skyports Inc. Seaplane Base, or as seaplane pilots know it, 6N7.

To create the fantasy world of Planes, filmmakers entered the real world of airplanes, consulting pilots and visiting airfields and museums.

The new Diamond DA42-VI is on the leading edge of light airplane technology.

Does the rise of the Jet A-burning diesel aircraft engine signal an evolution or a revolution for today’s avgas-powered airplanes?

Distraction is almost always a factor during an accident sequence. Nowhere is there likely to be more distraction than when arriving at a fly-in where there are many more aircraft than usual to avoid. Pilots need to be on their game and recognize that even though special ATC procedures are in effect, standard aerodynamic rules still apply. In this loss-of-control accident, the NTSB’s determination was predictable. But there was also a systemic flaw, in my view, and the arrival procedure in use was the precipitating event.

Prior to taking off from the dirt “airstrip” serving the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, the manager there had requested that I treat the guests to a low pass over the lodge, which was nestled in a ravine near the departure end of the runway. Not one to pass up such an invitation, I enthusiastically agreed.

During the course of the year, AOPA creates and participates in gatherings across the country where we interact with our members, share flying stories, and talk about the issues that affect our general aviation community. There is one gathering that, for us, represents the pinnacle of our annual outreach activity—the AOPA Aviation Summit.

We are a diverse lot, we AOPA members. From student pilots to astronauts, our skills, interests, and political leanings are all over the map. Two recent trends involving the federal government highlight how philosophically diverse we are. Unable to make the hard decisions necessary to reduce an out-of-control federal budget deficit, Congress and the White House crafted, approved, and ultimately allowed to go live sequestration legislation that forced small to sometimes dramatic cuts to the budgets of various agencies.

A wake turbulence wake-up

Eight: Hours, bottle to throttle. Eighteen: Army recruitment age; constitutional amendment initiating prohibition. Twenty-one: Legal drinking age; constitutional amendment overturning prohibition. Summer is here, and barbecues and beer beckon, so let’s consider a substance capable of causing headaches—alcohol.

I don’t like clear air turbulence, and my passengers like it even less. It’s one of those things that saps the fun from flying, because it affects the neural nooks that are the primitive levels of our biology. It’s unlikely that you or your passengers will learn to like turbulence, but by understanding and sharing with your passengers what it can and can’t do to your mind and airplane, you can make turbulence tolerable.