GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Colorado Mesa University and Western Colorado Community College will launch a new associate degree program designed to prepare students for a career in aviation this fall. Students who successfully complete the two-year program, which includes traditional classes as well as ground and flight training, will graduate with about 240 flight hours and will […]
Pilots
Top 5 Reasons to Get Airborne
I’ve never really understood why it’s true, but people seem to like lists for some reason. They’re forever buying magazines and clicking on hot links that will take them to The Top 3 Retirement Destinations in America, or The Top 5 Cars For 2016, or The Top 10 Reasons You Should Shop at Ralph’s. It’s […]
AOPA launches Personal Minimum Contracts
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s (AOPA) Air Safety Institute (ASI) has released Personal Minimum Contracts for both VFR and IFR pilots. The program helps pilots document personal minimums to become the basis for a contract pilots make with themselves. “Personal Minimum Contracts will help VFR and IFR pilots take some of the guess work out […]
I searched for excellence — and I found it
In many ways I’m a creature of habit. Of course, some habits are more obvious than others. For instance, I eat every day. More than I need to, in fact. That’s a habit. Not a particularly good one, and not one that I am proud of, but it is a habit, so I include it […]
Picture of the day: Backcountry camping
Patrick Romano of Backcountry Aviation also sent us a great collection of backcountry photos for our upcoming Special Focus on Backcountry Flying in our March print issues, including this photo, which depicts a Husky and Maule M7 enjoying a brief ray of sun in the Idaho backcountry.
Tip: Fly, fly, fly
Joe Gutierrez of Kingman, Arizona sends in this advice: The best flight training tool is to commit yourself 100% to learning how to fly without reservation. To say you want to is not enough. You have to commit yourself. Second, no sim time or DVD — this is artificial and the end result is still the same, didn’t learn […]
Flying the Alaska Highway
This is part three in a series of stories about flying to Alaska. Read about Bill’s trip planning, Flying to Alaska and Return from Fairbanks. It took four days flying from South Carolina to reach Fort Nelson, British Columbia, 283 miles up the Alaska Highway from its starting point at Dawson Creek. And more than 1,100 road miles — […]
One pilot’s Alaska trip prep plan
This is part one in a series of stories about flying to Alaska. Read about Bill’s Flying to Alaska, Flying the Alaska Highway and Return from Fairbanks. Recently a friend asked me to help him prepare for a flying trip to Alaska. I said I would, using notes taken from my own 3,500-mile journey in a Cessna 172 from […]
When I grow up, I want to be a….
Last week I attended a Focus on Education Breakfast held in the student center at Polk State College’s main campus in Winter Haven, Florida. On hand were members of the school board, administrators from the county’s school system, teachers, principals, politicians, community activists, and a smattering of students. The whole crew was gathered for a dual […]