Arizona Pilots Association
Preserving
Promoting
Protecting

General Aviation in Arizona

Advocating the common interests of Arizona's general aviation community at the local and state level.

Arizona Pilots Association
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The Voice of General Aviation in Arizona!

Scholarships

Scholarships are given each year to help fill the financial need of students pursuing aviation related educational opportunities at accredited colleges.

Backcountry

Safety briefing pamphlets, map, and videos for the backcountry airstrips in Arizona that the APA and volunteers have worked to reopen and currently maintain.

Airparks

Information regarding properties and contacts in a listing of the airparks located in Arizona, with special articles detailing the ins-and-outs of many of them.

Passport App

Win awards and stay proficient by visiting Arizona’s public-use airstrips and airports, as well as many airport restaurants and aviation themed museums in our #FLYAZ Passport App.

Safety

The APA provides safety seminars around the state, as well as articles on various safety topics each month. We also have available for download GAJSC safety presentations.

Calendar

The APA maintains a comprehensive calendar of many aviation events around Arizona, as well as our monthly Grapevine BBQ and special getaways. Find out what's happening.

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We would like to thank our corporate sponsor!

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Latest News Articles

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Greetings,

It’s been said that women speak nearly three times as much as men, and while this may be debatable, the studies in question obviously did not take pilots into account. Male or female, my experience is that pilots speak nearly six times as many words per day as non-pilots. I don’t plan to use focus groups, lab rats, or college students to firm this belief up into a published study, but anybody who has spent a weekend at a GA airport can back me up on this. In my nearly 25 years of flying, hangar flying is some of the most fun. Waiting out a thunderstorm or a fast-moving weather front under the shelter of a raised bi-fold door has resulted in some of the greatest relationships I’ve ever encountered. Sitting in a quiet terminal lobby on dilapidated couches with an honor system vending machine humming in the background while talking with people I’ve only just met is like comfort food for my soul. Visit any airport café on a Saturday morning and the energy level of the conversation is incredible.

Our ability to fly and enjoy aviation is an incredible freedom. However, flying is as much about relationships and emotions as it is about mechanics of flight and precision flying. For me, the social and emotional side of flying is what makes it rewarding. A kindred spirit exists between all pilots. It transcends age and gender. Unlike many other ways in which people can spend time and money, aviation also transcends financial status. In terminals or on the ramps, I often find budget-conscious pilots in a club-owned airplane chatting it up with a turbine single owner on his way to Vegas. Each admires the other. The turbine pilot is thinking back to the simplicity of flying an antique or vintage aircraft, and the club pilot is dreaming about the power of the turbine.

Pilots are also some of the most helpful people around. Have a flat tire or a dead battery? Chances are another pilot will go out of their way, even postponing their own trip, to get you on your way. I recently bartered for a tire and a tube from separate pilots at a sleepy California airport, while another pilot offered his hangar and tools to swap my flat nosewheel. Another pilot actually bought fuel for me when my credit card wasn’t accepted at an Arizona airport. I had to track him down to get him to accept repayment. The conversations and relationships were genuine. I’m sure we all have similar experiences.

APA supports general aviation, including the social side of this amazing hobby. Please visit our calendar to see what is coming up. Don’t worry if you don’t know anybody – you’ll meet them there and will feel right at home. Reach out and let us know about an aviation social event you’d like to make happen! I’ve mentioned it in the past, but if you have fellow pilot friends who aren’t members, ask them to consider joining APA. You help make APA an amazing organization and I’m blessed to be a part of it. Go spend some time at an airport, relax, and soak it all in.

Blue Skies,

Brian

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“The backcountry success of reopening airstrips in Arizona which the APA has accomplished through volunteer efforts is unsurpassed.”

Brian Schober, APA President
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We would like to thank our partners!

2022 bill robinson blue skies light sport repair

Bill Robinson
Arizona Light Sport Airplane Repair
(623) 218-4646

2022 photos happen

Karyn King
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(206) 795-2796

2023 pilot clinic

The Pilot Clinic
Flight Physicals
(623) 469-4688

2022 steven huff designated airworthiness representative

Steven Huff
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(602) 390-4246

2022 arizona skies aviation

Glenn Roberts
Arizona Skies Aviation
(602) 463-5528

2022 10 partner91

Steve Thompson
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(480) 980-9846