AOPA Pilot Magazine - Turbine Edition

I don’t suppose anyone missed the news over Southwest Airlines’ meltdown during December’s snowstorm-induced mass cancellations—and week-long recovery to “normal” operations. But something may have changed.

Way back in 1535 a Panamanian bishop sent a ship to Colombia to deal with some issues in the Colombian church. The ship was becalmed on the way and drifted to what we now know as the Galápagos Islands.

I can see Japan from here. Nope. No, I really can’t. There is absolutely nothing but the vast Pacific Ocean from here on Long Beach near Tofino, British Columbia, to the next land mass heading west, which is the island nation of Japan.

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston has a landscape that encourages intimacy and partisanship. I have heard it said that an inoculation to the sights and smells of the Carolina low country is an almost irreversible antidote to the charms of other landscapes, other alien geographies.

The jagged outline of the volcanic island rising from the blue Caribbean is visible more than 50 miles away. Even with its 3,200-foot peak shrouded in clouds, the conical shape of the lush, tropical island of Nevis is distinctive and easily recognizable.

Lone Pine, California

The air is chalk dry and the heat is intense for mid-October, but even though it is only a stone’s throw from Death Valley, the temperature in Lone Pine is thankfully in the 80s.

Dennis K. Johnson’s feature about the de Havilland Chipmunk (“Flying the Chippie,” January 2023 AOPA Pilot) suggests the airplane’s compass would not look out of place in a boat—and indeed it would not.

On September 30, 2022, it was made official that tens of millions of corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), and other entities and legal arrangements established in the United States or conducting business here will be required to report certain information, called Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI), to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the Treasury Department.

A spectacular winter day in North Georgia: abnormally warm, piercing clear skies, light winds. Perfect day to slip through a time portal and pretend I’m barnstorming in Georgia Girl, my brother’s pristine 1941 UPF–7 Waco.

When I was a brand-new flight instructor, still under the 300-hour mark, a retired military pilot who had lost his medical certificate came to the flight school asking if any flight instructors would be willing to sit right seat with him in his airplane so he could still get in the air.

In 1984 I was hired as the technical advisor for an NBC television network feature, Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac.

You’ll see in this month’s issue that we’re focusing on destinations—the wonderful places your pilot’s certificate gives you the license to visit and enjoy.

If it’s a Saturday or Sunday, my friend Bryan has a plan. Weather permitting, he is going to fly his Piper Arrow—and at least one friend—to bag a chart circle.

By Christopher Cooper

As I reflect on the advancements in the aviation industry that occurred in 2022, the growth and development of new and emerging technologies into the National Airspace System continues to be impressive, including increased commercial space launches, further development of eVTOL aircraft and autonomous flight, and routine beyond visual line of sight drone operations.

Take your reading experience beyond these pages / aopa.org/pilot

From a Cessna 150 to a T–38 Talon, James Scott Wolcott has flown just about every aircraft possible in a storied career that saw him become a flight instructor in both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy.

Test questions for aviators

By Collin Callahan

Ten miles off the west coast of Ireland at the mouth of Galway Bay lie three small islands, collectively known as the Aran Islands.

By Brian Thomas

For me it starts with my socks for some peculiar yet practical reason. They are always first in my bag.

Aviation-related books

Dayton Air Camps take place each summer for multiple weeks in Dayton, Ohio, the “Birthplace of Aviation,” where Wilbur and Orville Wright launched their dreams into the sky.

‘AOPA Pilot’ made its debut as an independent magazine with the publication of its first issue in March 1958.

“What modifications are y’all making?” “Can I buy the old propeller?” “What about XYZ…” As one of the project managers of the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 170B upgrades, I keep hearing the same questions over and over again.

It might all start in Dayton, Ohio, the “Birthplace of Aviation,” but there are a lot of aviation destinations to keep a pilot or aviation enthusiast happy all across the country.

By Carmine Mowbray

At one time, our entire family of six weighed about 660 pounds, fully dressed for Montana’s weather. We’d pack our 1978 Piper Turbo Lance, fasten the four kids’ seatbelts, and fly someplace on a free weekend.

“Mike, I have an ethical question for you: How should an aircraft owner determine fair compensation to a mechanic for parts and labor that were unnecessary?”

As I went through the before-start checklist inside my Piper Cherokee at the Sewanee/Franklin County Airport (UOS), I saw my mentor Bill Kershner out of the corner of my eye waving his arms while running to my airplane.

Deciding what to bring on an over-the-horizon flying trip begins with a two-part visualization exercise.

When does a medical condition become reportable to the FAA? That’s a good question.

Our airborne journeys will soon shed their winter vestiges with the advent of warmer weather and longer days. Our routine preflight checks, however, are constant. Testing our piston engine’s fuel for contamination is as critical a step in the spring as any other season.

Since 1991, if you picked up the phone and called the AOPA Pilot Information Center (PIC)—or what used to be the “hotline”—you may have been greeted by senior aviation technical specialist Rodney Martz (bottom of article).