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Published: 15 September 2020

  By Howard Deevers   Remember all of those instructions we got from our CFI when training for private pilot or instrument rating? The squawk codes: 7700 for emergencies, 7600 for communication failure, or 7500 for hijack. In over 40 years of flying, I have never had to use 7500. I guess that no one really wants to hijack a single engine airplane. You probably

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Published: 14 August 2020

  By Paul Wiley   Years ago, when I was first learning to fly at Luke Aero Club, my flight instructor explained to me the concept of “see and be seen” as the cornerstone of mid-air collision avoidance in VFR conditions.   He stressed the importance of looking outside the cockpit and being vigilant at all times in looking for other air traffic, especially

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Published: 19 July 2020

~  Scholarship Corner  ~   By Chris Nugent  This month’s Scholarship Corner installment will wrap up our look at the 2019 APA Scholarship winners. As I noted last month, many of them are well into their flight training programs, while some are waiting for the fall college semesters to get underway. Regardless, the entire landscape in the aviation

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Published: 15 July 2020

  By Howard Deevers   Few things could be more frightening to a pilot than an engine fire in flight. We do train for engine failure during primary flight training, and we may even discuss an engine fire, but there is no good way to simulate an engine fire. The fortunate thing is that engine fires during flight are very rare, not unheard of, but rare. I do remember

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Published: 14 June 2020

  By Paul Wiley   Most pilots are familiar with the process of the pre-flight inspection of the aircraft after their first few flying lessons. These pilots understand the purpose and process for ensuring the aircraft they are preparing to fly is in fact airworthy; and if it is not airworthy, then this is obviously a “No-Go” for the flight. Less obvious, but

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Published: 13 June 2020

  By Howard Deevers   Remember getting your Private Pilot License, and the examiner said: “Here is your license to learn,” or something to that effect?  Now, you are a pilot and can fly anywhere you want, without needing your instructor to sign off on the cross country, and you can take passengers.  Congratulations!  Pilots do continue to learn as

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Published: 13 June 2020

~  Scholarship Corner  ~   By Chris Nugent  As I mentioned in last month’s update, I reached out to all of our 2019 scholarship winners to see how things are going with their studies and flight training in light of the current state of affairs with the Coronavirus. Ben Alberti is attending Chandler-Gilbert Community College/NDU Aerospace and reports

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Published: 13 May 2020

  By Howard Deevers   A student of mine went to Ryan Airport for his Private Pilot check ride. The date was 9/11/2001. He arrived for his appointment at 8 AM sharp, and by 9 AM Tucson Time, we all knew of the airplanes that flew into the buildings in New York. The airspace was shut down by the National Security Council. All airplanes were instructed to land as

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Published: 13 May 2020

~  Scholarship Corner  ~   By Chris Nugent    As I mentioned in last month’s Scholarship Corner article, we will be taking a more in-depth look at each of our 2019 scholarship winners. I think you will agree that they are well deserving of the APA scholarship awards and will be great ambassadors for general aviation in Arizona. Scholarship

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Published: 13 April 2020

  By Howard Deevers   What could be wild about Sheltering-in-Place or working from home, as we have all been encouraged to do? Not much change for me, since I already work from home for the most part. However, I am sure that these changes have been shocking or confusing to many since they came about so quickly. Flight instructing is not a “stay at home” industry