Category Archives: affordable flying

Registration open for Pilot Proficiency Center EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022

Posted on by

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Registration now open for Pilot Proficiency Center sessions during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022

Half-day sessions include top flight instructors in new EAA Education Center

EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (June 22, 2022) — Registration is now open to the expanded Pilot Proficiency Center sessions during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022, to be held in the new EAA Education Center adjacent to the EAA Aviation Museum. These half-day clinics allow pilots to increase their knowledge, hone their abilities, and network with other passionate pilots while helping them become safer and better-informed aviators.

The 69th edition of the Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in convention is July 25-31 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh. Registration for the Pilot Proficiency Center clinics is free with AirVenture admission, but attendance at each half-day session is limited, so early registration is encouraged. More information and course requirements are available at the Pilot Proficiency Center webpage.

Participants may choose from any one of the sessions that fit their current pilot certificate, rating, or homebuilt aircraft project. Subjects range from flying fundamentals and risk factors to instrument flight and homebuilt test flying. The clinics include keynote presentations, interactive and engaging breakout sessions, skills enhancement, and challenging scenario-based training exercises in EAA’s Redbird Advanced Aviation Training Devices.

A pick-up breakfast is included with each morning session and lunch with each afternoon session.

EAA Pilot Proficiency Center clinics are presented by Redbird Flight Simulations, Jeppesen, BOSE Aviation, Hartzell Engine Technologies, Hartzell Propeller, and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). Additional support comes from CloudAhoy, Community Aviation, Mindstar Aviation, the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), and the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE).

About EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration” and EAA’s membership convention. Additional information, including advance ticket and camping purchase, is available at www.EAA.org/airventure. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or visit www.EAA.org. Immediate news is available at www.twitter.com/EAA.

SUN‘n FUN Home Edition 2020

Posted on by

SUN‘n FUN Home Edition 2020

SUN‘n FUN Fly-In Launches Home Edition 2020 with Video Link

For Immediate Release
April 27, 2020
Revised

Lakeland, Florida: The SUN’n FUN Home Edition 2020 launches today and will excite aviation enthusiasts across the globe by delivering the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo in a new venue – Cyberspace. The SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo has faced its share of challenges over its 46-year history overcoming snow, a tornado, flooding rain, sequestration, and extreme heat. Now having to cancel its 2020 event due to coronavirus, the team at SUN ‘n FUN was not going to be deterred from their mission to Engage, Educate and Accelerate the next generation of aerospace professionals.

“We didn’t sit back and give up” said John “Lites” Leenhouts, President and CEO of the Aerospace Center for Excellence. “We got to work on alternative ways to bring the excitement and comaraderie that our SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo is known for to people around the world. Our partners, sponsors, exhibitors, and the whole airshow community are working alongside us which is why SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 will be a great experience”. Lites went on to say, “Our theme for this year was Experience Flight in 2020 and little did we know that it would be a virtual experience!”

SUN ‘n FUN hopes the concept will keep their audience engaged until the Fly-In can return in 2021. Proceeds from sales and donations will benefit SUN ‘n FUN’s Aerospace Center for Excellence. Without their annual event, this non-profit 501c3 organization has lost over 80% of its annual funding, placing many of its scholarships and award-winning STEM education programs on hold.

“The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition 2020 is all the parts of the annual Aerospace Expo that attendees have come to know and love and a whole lot more”, says Greg Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer and Airshow Director. “The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition is an overall experience that will be accessed via a web portal at FLYSnF.org right from our home page. Once you click into the Home Edition, you’ll have access to tons of online content including some things that you have never seen before!”

The SUN ‘n FUN Home Edition is more than just a website, it’s a whole new SUN ‘n FUN Experience, including a series of online interviews with performers and show attractions over the next several weeks, leading up to a four-hour live online airshow May 30th. The website has hundreds of hours of video, photo galleries, and an interactive virtual expo where patrons can visit exhibitors and even buy from a selection of online specials those exhibitors will be promoting on their websites linked from the virtual SUN ‘n FUN. There is even 2020 collectible SUN ‘n FUN merchandise from “The Greatest Airshow That Never Happened”. Every area of SUN ‘n FUN is represented, including Warbirds, Homebuilt, Aerobatic HQ, Vintage, and Paradise City.

Content for this new virtual experience has begun starting to roll out and is available on its website FLYSnF.org, and social channels including Facebook and Instagram. Micheal Goulian is the first scheduled guest to take part in a live online interview as part of Performer Profiles. Scheduled for May 1st at 6:00 pm EST, Michael will share how he became one of North America’s most decorated aerobatic pilots and recognized aviation professional.

SUN ‘n FUN Fly-In Home Edition 2020

EXPERIMENTAL, AMATEUR-BUILT AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS REMAIN BELOW FAA DECADE-LONG CHALLENGE GOAL

Posted on by

Uptick in aircraft accidents in past year a reminder that continual safety focus is essential

EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (November 22, 2019) — While fatal aircraft accident totals in amateur-built aircraft remain at historic lows, a slight increase in the total for the last 12-month reporting period shows the continuing necessity for dedicated educational efforts to push the total even lower, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association.

The Federal Aviation Administration reports that for the 12-month period from October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2019, fatal accident totals for the experimental category overall, including amateur-built aircraft, racing aircraft, those used for exhibit only, research-and-development, and some types of light-sport aircraft, rose to 52 – five above the FAA’s “not to exceed” goal of 47 for the period. Of that total, 39 fatal accidents were in amateur-built aircraft, an increase of four from the previous reporting period.

FAA measures accident totals on an October-through-September annual basis to coincide with the federal government’s fiscal year. In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board earlier this month noted that fatal accidents in all categories of general aviation increased in calendar year 2018 after several years of decline.

“What this increase tells us is that enhancing safety is not simply a target number to be reached, but a continual effort to build on the positive foundation we have already established,” said Sean Elliott, EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety. “We are pleased that the accident totals remain below the challenge goal FAA issued to us in 2010, when the agency asked us to reduce the accident rate by 10 percent over the ensuing decade. It is not enough to simply reach a number, however; we must keep a steady focus on making improvements, especially as the number of general aviation flight hours have increased over the past several years.”

Elliott noted that the overall fatal accident numbers for experimental category aircraft remain much lower than other recreational pursuits, such as boating, skiing and snowboarding, and driving all-terrain vehicles.

EAA has worked closely with the FAA and NTSB on recommendations to reduce fatal accidents, including through participation in the FAA General Aviation Joint Steering Committee that EAA has co-chaired for the past three years. Efforts have also included more than 2,500 copies of the one-year old EAA Flight Test Manual now in the hands of amateur-built aircraft owners and the increasing use of an additional safety pilot during initial flight testing in amateur-built aircraft.

“With already very small numbers involved, a few additional accidents can create a percentage-rate anomaly, so it’s important to focus on driving the overall accident numbers lower,” Elliott said. “We must focus on training, situational awareness, and good pilot skills to complement the ever-improving technology that is part of today’s aircraft cockpits.”

About EAA

EAA embodies The Spirit of Aviation through the world’s most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAA’s 230,000 members and 900 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restoring recreational aircraft. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or go to www.eaa.org. For continual news updates, connect with www.twitter.com/EAA.