A Host of Seminars for Pilots

A whole lot of us in general aviation feel like something’s missing this week—and that something would be the two major GA shows we normally attend on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo was to be held in Lakeland, Florida, from March 30 to April 4, with AERO Friedrichshafen originally scheduled to take place in Germany March 31 through April 3.

Fortunately, those shows will go on next year—Sun ‘n Fun officially cancelled its postponed event on April 1 (no fooling!) and AERO determined late last month it would double down to plan for its next dates, April 14 to 17, 2021.

So what’s a pilot to do in the meantime, while practicing social distancing and complying with stay-at-home orders? Attend the bevy of virtual Sun ‘n Fun and AERO events and seminars, of course. We’ve listed a number of options for students in flight training—but providers such as Garmin and AEA have stepped up to deliver another part of the fly-in experience—demonstrations and advanced training for those who are already certificated, or aircraft owners, or technicians.

There’s still time to sign up for Garmin’s seminars, which cover the latest products, autopilot retrofits, cost-effective upgrades, and Garmin services. For those in Western Hemisphere, look to the virtual Sun ‘n Fun schedule and in the Eastern Hemisphere, go to the virtual AERO schedule. Pilots who want to stay current while at home can check out Garmin Aviation eLearning courses, which are now 10 percent off through April 30. The eLearning courses provide a pilot who is new to the subject or product—or an experienced user wanting to upgrade their knowledge—instruction on best practices for operational use. The company is running several promotions tied in with the shows as well.

If you’re a member of the Aircraft Electronics Association, you can access the webinars and presentations that would have been delivered at its convention that had been cancelled in March. Content is available from Avidyne; Broward College; Garmin; L3Harris; PS Engineering; Robotic Skies; True Blue Power; and Universal Avionics. Additional presentations will be added as they become available. You can also use the time to upgrade your skills by accessing their wide variety of avionics training courses online.

Last week, ForeFlight launched a series called ForeFlight on Frequency where the company’s experts will share training webinars, host interviews, and discuss various topics that are relevant to the aviation community—including business aviation, GA, and aviation in Europe. “We hosted our first Power Users webinar yesterday and had over 5,000 registrations and got some great feedback,” said a spokesperson for ForeFlight on April 3.