AOPA Pilot Magazine - Turbine Edition

Standing outside your hangar, gazing skyward, have you ever seen an unusually sharp hole in the cloud deck above? If you have, was it circular, elliptical, or possibly square or rectangular?

By Capucine Cordina

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, known for his 1943 novella The Little Prince, was a writer, poet, journalist, and aviator. He dedicated his life to flight and literature, becoming a pioneer for air mail in the 1920s to flying in World War II, where he took his experiences and turned them into beautiful poetic works that to this day inspire people everywhere.

By Mike Ginter

In last month’s edition of AOPA Pilot, I highlighted the sobering reminders of our aviation realities and the three highly publicized commercial, military, and general aviation fatal accidents that occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Philadelphia, and Nome, Alaska (see “Stay the Course,” April 2025 AOPA Pilot). Since then, our country has experienced several more high-profile aviation accidents, further eroding the nonflying public’s confidence in our aviation system.

By Sue Durio

It’s late August, and the first dusting of snow has already graced the Teton Mountains around Jackson, Wyoming.

Toward the bottom of a list of concerns from the prepurchase report on a Piper Cub I was considering purchasing was a troubling line: “Engine data plate missing,” it said. So began a yearlong quest to get it back.

Chino Airport (CNO) in San Bernardino County, California, has everything visitors could want in a public-use airport. From three lengthy runways, flight schools, plenty of transient parking, a star-studded aviation museum, and warbirds galore, pilots have their pick of things to see and do. But when it’s time to break for lunch, pilots and visitors agree, Flo’s is the place to go.