As I write this column, the world is wrangling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Life has changed dramatically for a lot of industries and people. For example, in looking at commercial aviation, many borders in a lot of countries are closed. Quarantines are in place in many areas and assuming you can travel, you may have a 14-day stay in quarantine when you get there. Air travel has dropped by an enormous percent and airlines are mothballing existing aircraft, slashing routes as well as employees. … [Read more...] about Keeping Calm and Carrying On
Lance Leighnor
Comparing Costs for Private Pilot Training
Leighnor Aircraft spent Feb. 7-9, at the Copperstate Fly-in at the Buckeye Municipal Airport. This fly-in was a great time for general aviation. There were a lot of visitors and we stayed very busy on Friday and Saturday talking to people about flight training and our amazing Aeroprakt aircraft, for which we are now the Southwest dealer for sales and support. As is the case with most of these events, Sunday tapered off toward the afternoon and many people and vendors headed for home. If you’re … [Read more...] about Comparing Costs for Private Pilot Training
Keeping General Aviation Pilots in the Air
There are really three classes of pilots in the world: military pilots who fly as part of their military duties, commercial pilots who get paid to fly and general aviation pilots who fly for reasons of their own, such as business, fun or some level of excitement. For this month’s aviation column, I’m writing about general aviation pilots, who are, to some degree, an endangered species. Why are general aviation pilots so endangered? Put simply: cost. I’ve personally joked for quite a few … [Read more...] about Keeping General Aviation Pilots in the Air
The New Year Brings Much Aviation Activity
Aviation as we move into 2020 has both challenges and exciting times ahead. The shortage of airline pilots has driven flight training to new heights and the good economy has brought many rusty pilots back to flying. As I write this article, just in the past week alone, I’ve spoken to three such pilots. Flight schools and rental companies are expanding radically to meet this need. At Embry-Riddle, this past fall saw the largest class of aviation students in the college’s history. In … [Read more...] about The New Year Brings Much Aviation Activity
Looking Ahead to the New Year in Quad Cities Aviation
As we reach the end of 2019, it is amazing how quickly this year has gone by and the many positive changes we have at the airport to be very thankful for. For those of us who love aviation, there have been numerous areas of growth and more than a few challenges that have come from that growth. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University brought in the largest class of aviation students ever at the university. ERAU also has new aircraft to help train all these additional students. The jet service at … [Read more...] about Looking Ahead to the New Year in Quad Cities Aviation
A Return to Flying
The Quad Cities area is home to a lot of pilots, retired pilots and inactive pilots. Many of these pilots are what we in the aviation business call “rusty pilots.” These are pilots who haven’t flown for some time and are not current under Federal Aviation Regulations. Quite frequently, these individuals will not be up on the latest regulation changes or all the technology changes that have become pervasive in the aircraft cockpit. For example, when I learned to fly, all calculations were done … [Read more...] about A Return to Flying
How Training the Next Generation of Pilots Will Impact Prescott’s Economy
t’s going to be a very busy fall and beyond into 2020 at Prescott’s Ernest A. Love Regional Airport. As most news-savvy readers know, there is a looming crisis in our air transportation industry, and that crisis is not enough pilots. There are several factors that have caused this situation, and whole articles have been written about the root cause of this problem. It is not my intent to explore what has been written about countless times in the past few years. Instead, I am going to look at … [Read more...] about How Training the Next Generation of Pilots Will Impact Prescott’s Economy
Considering the Human Factor in Piloting a Plane
We read a lot in our news about self-driving cars and autopilot-flying airplanes. Reports suggest automation will be the way of the future and poor human decision making will be eliminated. Let’s just say I’m a bit skeptical of those claims. Maybe in a few more years it might be possible, but there’s always that cost factor. A good case in point is the problems with the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The reality here is that Boeing designed a totally new airplane, which meant for the manufacturer a … [Read more...] about Considering the Human Factor in Piloting a Plane
Answering Common Questions About Learning to Fly
As a company that provides rental aircraft and flight instruction, we get asked a lot of the same questions about learning to fly. Here are a few of those questions and their answers: Can anyone learn to fly? The answer to that question is yes – mostly. To be able to learn to fly and become a licensed pilot, you need to have decent health and vision, the ability to master simple physical skills (e.g. controlling the airplane), have the intelligence to be able to learn the material and … [Read more...] about Answering Common Questions About Learning to Fly
How to Support Prescott Airport
Last month’s article talked about some of the concerns around the airport regarding noise from flying aircraft. Several of our readers reached out directly to me about that article and there was a lengthy discussion of the article on the Prescott Facebook page. I’m very pleased to see that there was overwhelming positive public support for our aviation community in Prescott. This month, let’s talk in detail about how the average citizen can support the airport and airport services. The easiest … [Read more...] about How to Support Prescott Airport