The pass rates on practical tests for the initial issuing of pilot certificates, specifically private pilot, commercial pilot, and flight instructor certificates, went down in 2022 for the first time in the past few years. What’s behind the decline and how can it be reversed?
Flight Training
A new flock descends on Redbird Migration
The 12th annual Redbird Migration flight training conference was cutting edge, with new content throughout, including a new conference track for an emerging segment of the flight training industry: K-12 educators in STEM and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
The unconventional way works too
I began flying just as a hobby initially. I had no intention of turning it into a career. But it turned out that some of the twists and turns along my personal road put aviation into a much more prominent position than I’d have imagined possible.
Questions from the Cockpit: What’s so mean about mean sea level?
Cassandra, working on her Sport Pilot ticket on the Florida coast, writes: I’ve just started my flight training, and have learned about the two different ways that altitude is expressed: AGL and MSL. Above Ground Level is self-explanatory, but I’m having a harder time wrapping my head around Mean Sea Level. I mean, I get that it’s the altitude above sea level, but what’s the “mean” all about?
Five win Cascade Warbirds scholarships
For more than a decade Cascade Warbirds has teamed with several flight schools in the Puget Sound area to provide scholarship recipients with tuition, books, and supplies to complete private pilot ground school, and two introductory instructional flights. Successful completion of the Private Pilot Ground School will qualify a student to take the FAA Private Pilot Written Exam.
The other DECIDE model
Students cancel lessons, show up unprepared, and generally fail to make significant progress toward their goal of learning to fly for one specific reason. They don’t really understand the process of learning a complex subject that includes multiple components of knowledge combined with mechanical skill.
ASA updates Flight Instructor Oral Exam Guide
The expanded eighth edition includes “Fundamentals of Instructing” questions covering the subjects from the FAA’s Aviation Instructor’s Handbook (FAA-H-8083-9). Its content accounts for the latest FAA test standards, including new risk management considerations and chapters covering all Areas of Operation and Tasks.
Picture of the Day: Glassy water
Joe Parker submitted this photo and note: “A perfect day to do refresher training on glassy water. I was waiting for the last of the fog to clear before heading off on what was a most fantastic morning of flying around Lakeland, Florida, with Ken, a senior instructor at Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base. Thank you Ken, Ben, and Patricia.”
Scholarship winner is anything but normal
When John King said “you are not normal,” he meant it as high praise for Tracy Atobatele, winner of the 2023 National Association of Flight Instructors/King Schools scholarship.