The Aspiring Pilot

Cool Air Safety Institute seminar in Illinois next week

AOPA's ASI is bringing the 'Close Calls, Lessons Learned' seminar to Illinios next week. Not sure I'll be able to attend but it does sound like a pretty interesting seminar. The nearest one to me in Bolingbrook is the same night as my mandatory paramedic continuing education so I won' t be able to attend that one. I may try for the Northbrook one. 

ASI's description: 

All of us have made mistakes, some more harrowing than others. The key is learning from those mistakes. 

"Close Calls, Lessons Learned" is the new seminar from the Air Safety Institute that features real pilots telling their real stories. Some are familiar stories, others are unique. 

You'll see a CFI and his student tell the story of losing a prop in flight. A Mooney pilot talks of surviving a crash in Oregon. One pilot shares how he lost control in the too-often-repeated event of going VFR into IMC. And one pilot shares how getting distracted can result in mistakes.

Article and locations/times can be found here in my Chicago General Aviation column. 

AOPA announces it's 2010 Fun to Fly Sweepstakes winner

AOPA announced the winner of AOPA's 2010 Fun to Fly Sweepstakes airplane during their annual Aviation Summit in Long Beach, CA.  Yorke Brown of Etna N.H. was introduced as the winner of theRemos GX light sport aircraft.  During the video introduction, AOPA President Craig Fuller said 'The day you give away an airplane is a very good day.' 

For full story, see my General Aviation Examiner Article. 

Now... if only I could win the 2011 sweepstakes aircraft.... 

EU postpones EASA vote

The EU commission has postponed the vote on the EASA new proposals that would have virtually restricted FAA certificated pilot's from flying in Europe or from EU airplane owners from registering aircraft in the US.  The vote is postponed until December at the earliest and hopefully, will provide ample time for AOPA and IAOPA to continue to fight the proposal.  

For the full story and article on this new development, visit my General Aviation examiner article. 

Flying Musicians to perform at AOPA Summit 2010 Airportfest

The AOPA Summit 2010 is coming to Long Beach, CA from November 11th through the 13th.  As part of the event, the AOPA is bringing back it's'Airportfest' for a second year. AOPA states that 'Airportfest is one of the “must see” features of Summit. Airportfest combines a one-of-a-kind static aircraft display with so much more!'  Airportfest is open Thursday, November 11 (9:00am - 5:00pm), Friday, November 12 (9:00am - 5:00pm), and Saturday, November 13 (9:00am - 4:00pm).  One of the events is a live music session from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. each of the three days.  The music will be provided by the Flying Musicians who describe themselves as a group of 'Pilot musicians sharing their passion while encouraging and educating youth in the science and art of aeronautics and music.'  

for full story and press release, please see the General Aviation Examiner article.

EU vote on new EASA aviation rules today or tomorrow

During a hearing beginning today through October 14th, the European Union Commission will vote on the adoption of a new set of EU-wide rules pertaining to pilot certification and airplane registrations.  The AOPA and the IAOPA have both been vocal with their opposition of the new rules and the negative worldwide impact they will have on the international aviation community.  

The new regulations being proposed were introduced in 2008 by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).  During the public comment period, ending February 28, 2009, the EASA received over 11,000 comments on the proposal.  After reviewing the comments, the EASA submitted the final proposal to the EU commission for a vote, which is taking place today and tomorrow.

The proposal, if a vote is successful, will lead to drastic changes in how general aviation and pilots operate within EU countries with the effects truly being felt globally.  Read the full details and the impact the proposal would have at my General Aviation column.

AOPA's 2010 Sweepstakes plane to attend Midwest LSA expo

Coincidently, when I write about the new 2011 AOPA sweepstakes plane, I find out that the 2010 sweepstakes plane, the Remos GX will be at the 2nd Annual Midwest LSA Expo.  I did a quick write up of the plane coming to the expo along with some other LSA's that will be on display at my Chicago General Aviation Examiner page. 

I'm trying to see if there is a way to make it down there to interview the pilot of the plane Jill Tallman as well as interview and write up reviews of as many of the planes as I can.  Would be a great way to establish contacts in the LSA industry for future news and articles.   

I'm very interested in these LSA aircraft, though I'd love to own a 4-seater, just for family trips, but still, I think that LSA's haven't even started to make a dent in the aviation field.  I still foresee them helping to slowly make general aviation more affordable. 

'Crossover Classic Skylane' - AOPA's 2011 sweepstakes airplane

See my National General Aviation Examiner article for the full details, but this is definitely one airplane I would LOVE to have! It just sounds amazing.  Just a quick excerpt of the performance expected of the 182 once the modifications are completed:

...The first step will be completed by Air Plains, and will be a replacement of the C-182's engine with a factory remanufactured Teledyne Continental Motors IO-550D engine.  This modification will take the Skylane from the factory 230HP to 300HP, a dramatic improvement of @30%.  According to Air Plains website, cruise speed increases from 145MPH up to 180-185MPH and rate of climb increases from 1,000FPM to 1,700-1,800FPM at sea level.  The service ceiling also improves from around 18,000' to 24,000'.

Add in the instruments, interior, etc. as well as the amazing paint jobs they place on their sweepstakes planes, and this will be an amazing aircraft! I'm looking forward to it making a stop in the Chicago area sometime next year so I can photograph it, write about it, and maybe, even get a courtesy media ride on it! 

Real World IFR seminar by ASF coming to Chicago

(from examiner.com)

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF) will be holding a safety seminar for pilots in the Chicago area.  The seminar will be held on three separate days, October 4th, 5th and 6th at three locations, ensuring one close to all parts of Chicago. The seminar starts at 7:00 p.m. on all three days and runs until 9:00 p.m. The seminar is the ASF's 'Real World IFR' presentation and is new for 2010. (see additional information at examiner.com)

AOPA increasing its annual membership fee but now is not the time to cancel

(from my examiner.com opinion piece on the AOPA rate increase)

AOPA President, Craig L. Fuller, recently announced that annual membership fees were increasing to $45. Within hours, posts at twitter and other social networking sites were appearing with talk of cancellations because of the slight increase. AOPA has not raised it's fees in over 20 years. They have spun off and begun charging fees for services that may have been free previously; however, it provides people who have specific needs to pay for additional services that they may require. It saved money overall as AOPA did not need to pay to offer services for members that did not require them. This allowed rates to stay where they were for all this time.

General Aviation is now facing some of it's toughest battles. (rest of this article, and others, can be found here.)