Meg Godlewski

The Pilot Proficiency Center, one of the popular temporary educational exhibits at EAA AirVenture will soon have a permanent home at the EAA Museum. A 30,000-square-foot addition is under construction as part of Project 21, an endeavor to increase and improve the museum’s educational offerings. It is located on the south side of the building […]

The number of aviation accidents fell for the second year in a row, according to the latest issuance of the Nall Report. The report, compiled biennially by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Air Safety Institute, studies accident data looking for trends, with the idea that once these trends are identified they can be […]

“Here they come.” The firefighters look up to see an orange-and-white jet approaching the flaming hillside. A cloud of red drops from the belly—it is Phos-Chek, a fire retardant designed to keep the tinder-dry hills from burning. In the summer months, this image replays again and again. More than 150 times so far in 2021, […]

Teaching someone to fly can be a life-altering experience on the same level as teaching someone to read, swim, or ride a bike. All these skills increase a person’s confidence and give them a sense of freedom. But as anyone who has been through the flight training process will tell you, learning to fly is […]

Select Beechcraft are now among the aircraft that can utilize the Garmin GFC 500 autopilot. Garmin has received FAA approval allowing supplemental type certification for the GFC 500 autopilot for the: Beechcraft 19 Sport Beechcraft 23 Musketeer/Sundowner Beechcraft 24 Musketeer/Sierra. The autopilot display is pure Garmin—the mode controller contains large, dedicated keys and knobs, and […]

“Is the seat all the way forward?” My first instructor asked me this when, on my first flight, I couldn’t see over the cowling of my Cessna nor could I reach the rudder pedals without doing some sort of an advanced, twisting yoga pose. The seat was as far forward as it could be, but […]

John and Rose Dorcey, a pilot couple from Wisconsin, didn’t wait for a statewide program before they launched on their great adventure. Rose said that in 2010 the couple made a goal of flying to all 60 Wisconsin counties with public-use airports in their Cessna 172. “It started in 2010, after John and I planned […]

A handful of states across the U.S. offer such programs. Some are designed specifically for pilots. Others are designed for aviation enthusiasts of all levels. These so-called “passport programs” encourage the public to visit participating airports and obtain stamps in a special passport booklet. For pilots of a certain age, it calls to mind the […]

Most fixed base operators don’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising, so the owners tend to get creative with ways to bring pilots to the airport. There are a number of low-cost gimmicks that have been successfully employed over the years. Here are three of our favorites: The selfie space. Is there […]

If you are a “Star Trek” fan, you probably remember where you were on September 28, 1987, when “Star Trek: The Next Generation” premiered. STNG, as it is known among the fans, was the second live-action series created by Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry was a pilot, and as such the “Star Trek” franchise is peppered with […]