Training

Learning to fly a rotorcraft or helicopter opens up flying into places that other aircraft can’t reach. As a professional helicopter pilot, you can fly for rescue and emergency medical services (EMS) or executive transport, among many options. The rotorcraft category of aircraft includes helicopters, as well as autogyros and gyrodynes . You’re most likely […]

Learning to fly a turboprop aircraft takes you the next step up in your capability. Turboprop airplanes offer a number of performance and safety enhancements that allow you to fly a wide variety of missions not possible in piston-powered airplanes. Single-engine turboprop airplanes make for the simplest transition, though you’ll probably need to complete a […]

Learning to fly drones and unmanned aerial systems or vehicles gives you the tools to range far afield from your current position. Amateur drone pilots capture perspectives on the world not possible from the ground, and professional UAS or UAV pilots develop skills that apply to other aspects of aviation. If you have purchased an […]

Learning to fly gliders introduces you to flight without relying upon an engine—in general terms. A glider is typically shaped like an airplane but with wings that have a higher aspect ratio (meaning they’re longer and thinner) in order to maximize the glider’s advantage using lift. Glider categories sort into self-launch or motorgliders, aero-tow, or […]

Learning to fly a jet paves the way to your career—or makes it possible for you to fly faster, more capable aircraft on your personal or business missions. While very few people learn to fly initially in jet aircraft—even military pilots typically begin in single-engine piston or turboprop airplanes—with today’s light jets that can be […]

Most of us learn best through the hands-on application of knowledge. You see this throughout aviation as you apply what you’ve learned in ground school to your actions in the airplane. Take it another step further: What if you had the opportunity to learn about aircraft design, create your own airplane in sophisticated software, and […]

The Air Force and its auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol, are testing a new approach to help tackle the service’s pilot shortage. The Pilot Prep Program (PPP) will prepare 52 airmen from 38 installations across the globe for the Air Force’s fiscal 2020 undergraduate flight training selection board this fall. Pentagon Aircrew Crisis Task Force […]

I still believe my instrument-rating check ride was my toughest, but then maybe it just seemed that way because the technology in the Cessna 172 I flew was pretty basic: two communications radios, two VORs, an ADF and a transponder. Keeping an airplane upright in the old days demanded constant brain work to scan the […]

Securing the funds to make your flying dreams happen takes planning and strategic thinking. There are a range of solutions for finding sources of financing, planning for your expected expenditures, and applying for scholarships that will help you on your way. The first question to answer: What level of flying do you wish to achieve? […]

Continued VFR into IMC is the scourge of general ­aviation. Year after year, it is a leading cause of fatal accidents—almost four times deadlier than encounters with thunderstorms and icing combined. If anything, these numbers underestimate the problem, since many “­successful” VFR-into-IMC flights never show up in the National Transportation Safety Board statistics, but instead […]