The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) reports steady progress toward the GA Pilot Training Reform Symposium it will chair in May in Atlanta, including the hiring of a professional event planner. Building on the AOPA Flight Training Summit held last November, the symposium will focus on training reform as a cornerstone for reducing […]
Wichita Aero Club to meet at National Center for Aviation Training
The Wichita Aero Club will move its first monthly luncheon of 2011 from its traditional site at the Wichita Airport Hilton to the campus of the new National Center for Aviation Training (NCAT) at the north end of Wichita’s Colonel James Jabara Airport on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The luncheon will also begin 15 minutes earlier […]
11 earn Master accreditation
Master Instructors LLC and its Board of Review recently accredited 11 CFIs as Master Instructors. To help put this achievement in its proper perspective, there are approximately 93,000 CFIs in the United States. Fewer than 700 of them have earned Master accreditation, according to officials. The Master Instructor designation is a national accreditation recognized by […]
Ice not nice for Musketeer
This January 2009 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others. Aircraft: Beech Musketeer. Injuries: None. Location: Lafayette, Ind. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot obtained a full weather briefing and filed an instrument […]
Sell the sizzle, not the steak
Washington, D.C. — We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. But having been born just 19 years after the Wright brothers made the first controlled flight, personal experience might help in the current attempts to gain greater acceptance for aviation. (Note the word “general” is not included.) In the 1960s when William […]
Boom years ahead for GA?
Drew Steketee was president of BE A PILOT, senior vp-communications for AOPA and executive director of the Partnership for Improved Air Travel. He also headed PR and media relations for Beech, GAMA and the Airport Operators Council International. I still think most people underestimate the role of World War II in the modern growth of […]
Book review: Black Wings
If you are looking for a book that shows the contributions of African Americans to aviation, telling as well of their challenges and grit, “Black Wings: Courageous Stories of African Americans in Aviation and Space History,” is for you. Written by Von Hardesty, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, the book begins […]
Still publishing after all these years…
Charles Stockton was unpacking Christmas decorations this year and discovered a copy of General Aviation News he picked up 15 years ago while traveling though Seattle. He and his lifelong friend, who was dying of cancer, were on a whirlwind one-year tour of the country. Boeing was on the list to see and while there […]
GA’s ‘five Ts’ for 2011
In the spirit of the aviation mnemonic that uses “the five Ts” to remember what comes next on an instrument approach, a report at AOPA.org noted that taxes, technology, training, tetraethyl lead, and tracking of aircraft by Internet users highlighted a checklist of issues facing general aviation in 2011. Check it out here.