Coming up,
a big helping hand from American Airlines.
Your RV-10 sweepstakes airplane
is in for paint.
Picking up the right landmarks.
AOPA Live this week begins,
in just a moment.
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This is AOPA Live this week,
with Tom Haines and Alyssa Cobb.
There's no better time than now
to start to learn to be a pilot
or an aviation mechanic
or any other great aerospace job.
Some are paying up to $60,000 a year
within the first year after graduating high school.
It's pretty amazing.
And as we've told you before,
Boeing says there'll be some
212,000 new professional pilots
needed in North America
in the next 20 years.
Not to mention some 200,000 aviation technicians.
Guess what?
Airlines are very concerned about that.
But one American Airlines
thinks that AOPA is part of the solution
and they're betting money on it.
AOPA Live's Warren Morningstar has more.
As I started traveling to
some of the schools that
were using the AOPA curriculum,
it was obvious that what they were doing,
had great impact on the students' lives.
Greenville technical charter high school
is making a big difference in students' lives.
The South Carolina school was an early adopter
of the AOPA you can fly aviation STEM curriculum.
This week, American Airlines gave the school
more than $8,000 for its aviation program.
We are happy to be awarding you and your school,
this check that you applied for.
We hope that it's a one small way
along with many other grants
that you've been receiving
to help kind of boost
this aviation program even more.
The first of some 16 grants
from American this year.
All going to schools using the free AOPA curriculum.
What we're going to do is
we're going to try to constrict
this area of the tubings.
And so as you know,
what happens in a venturi,
we're going to get airflow through the tube.
There will be a pressure change
as it goes through the constriction.
Doug Adomatis,
the kids call him. Mr A,
is the school science teacher
and the driving force behind
implementing the AOPA program.
If I can get them into my classroom,
I can make him a pilot.
And he does that with drones.
In researching for the grant,
I came across an article
and it was for professional flight schools
and there was a sentence in there
that caught my attention.
That the discovery flight
is probably the single most
powerful thing to attract students into a flight school.
But how many kids can afford
or even want to seek out a discovery flight?
With a drone, we can take the aircraft
to people, to our middle schools
to get them excited about flying,
in a safe situation
where their feet are still on the ground
but looking through the first person view goggles,
the FPV goggles,
they are seeing what it would be like
if they were in that aircraft.
I flew.
You flew?
I flew.
The American Airlines money,
will get Mr A another two drones setups
to use in recruiting for the charter school
and Florida's aviation based science class.
(blowing sound)
Whoa!
Now Greenville is home
to some big technology firms
like BMW and Lockheed,
and the charter school is on the campus
of Greenville technical college.
So they have a two year A&P program.
And the cool thing about partnering with them
is that they can start that two year program
while they're still in high school.
So they can knock out
that first year as high schoolers,
then go finish it one year out of high school,
go to work for Lockheed,
build fighter jets,
and make $60,000 a year.
Good money.
But for Mr A,
it isn't just about the money.
I love people, I love kids.
I get the challenges that they're going through
and I want to help them through it
like I did.
In Greenville, South Carolina,
Warren Morningstar, AOPA Live.
This is the third year
for the American Airlines flight education grants.
From now on,
the grants are going only to schools
using the AOPA you can fly science, technology,
engineering, math or STEM curriculum.
Wow, what a time
to be a youth going into aerospace careers.
It really is.
Just a few years ago,
the starting salaries on these
were not very good for a lot of mechanics
and particularly for commuter airline pilots.
Now they come with signing bonuses
and it's amazing
what the opportunities are
for aviation aerospace right now.
Yeah, and being a little biased
in the aviation industry ourselves,
but what better career
can you go into than aviation.
Great people all in all
and wonderful opportunities,
particularly right now.
Man, it's wonderful.
That's right.
Well, speaking of getting young people into aviation,
one of the great forces behind
not only funding the AOPA foundation,
but many aviation's programs
is the James C. Ray foundation.
True to form, they are sponsoring
a matching grant for a program called STEM flights.
It's a program that pairs young people
with mentor pilots for an introduction to aviation.
They also provide STEM programming for youth.
The Ray foundation is helping them grow.
Find more information on the STEM flight's website.
Meanwhile, the feds
are worried about Chinese drone security.
Chinese-based DJI,
the largest drone manufacturer in the world.
The security concerns
caused the department of interior
to ground hundreds of drones.
DJI maintains its products are secure though.
The department uses drones
for important missions like forest firefighting
and because of the grounding,
several inter-agency drone training courses
were canceled.
AOPA has received many calls
from members in recent months
concerned about the hull
and liability insurance premium increases
they are seeing at renewal.
AOPA leaders have met with numerous underwriters
and insurance executives
to understand what is happening
in the insurance market.
We wanted answers as to what causes
10 to 100% increases or more in premiums.
Now Tom, you've been working on this story
and talking to insurance executives.
What's the deal?
Well, the change is a result
of the hardening of the insurance market
after more than a decade of flat
or in some cases, decreasing premiums
and we've all enjoyed that, right?
Well, the insurance industry
has sustained significant losses
in aviation and other markets in recent years.
Losses that have outpaced premiums
and that has caused some insurers
to exit certain markets
including aviation.
In order to be profitable of course,
those that remain have to increase premiums
in some cases, rather dramatically.
Particularly in the owner flown turbine market
and for older pilots.
My story on the AOPA website has some tips
on ways you can mitigate the increases.
So this has been brewing for a while
and because of the hurricanes, earthquakes
and forest fires and tsunamis around the world
and a couple of airline accidents
and that sort of thing
and some satellite based accidents
or failures for launches,
the insurance companies just taking a beating
in the last number of years.
They've been losing money
in the aviation aerospace segment in particular.
Some of them have exited as I said,
so therefore the rates, rates are going up.
Good news is, this is a temporary situation.
The folks I've talked to,
suggest that within the next two to three years
we'll probably see up to kind of level off next year,
still at higher premiums,
but kind of flat.
And then by 2023 or so,
we may start to see it decline once again
back into a softening market
instead of this hardening one.
Important thing is though,
for you to present yourself well to your broker.
Do more than the minimum training
that the FAA requires
so that you show
that you're a proactive pilot
when it comes to safety.
And if you're an older pilot,
you may need to consider
going down to a simpler airplane
if you're flying a complex airplane.
There's been a lot of issues around
gear up landings with older pilots,
the insurance companies say at least.
And so they're looking fondly
on pilots willing to step down
to a simpler airplane.
Or I guess if they want to keep their aircraft,
they could always
bring on another pilot to fly with them.
Good point.
Bring another pilot along with you
and that sometimes can help
and make the insurance company more comfortable.
It's good to know this is temporary.
We just need to buckle up
and ride it out for a year or two.
Yeah, good point.
Well there was a first for a new tilt rotor.
The CMV 22-B is a Navy flying machine
built by Bell and Boeing,
took to the sky for the first time this week.
It's the latest variant in the tilt rotor fleet.
The Navy will use the machine
to replace the C2A Greyhound
for taking people and supplies
from shore to aircraft carriers.
And now I did...a couple of ago,
we, Warren and I,
went out to an aircraft carrier.
We were on a C2A Greyhound,
and I got to tell you,
those things probably are ready for retirement.
This thing was leaking fuel
and hydraulic fluid
and all kinds of things inside the cabin.
So they're pretty old.
Good to see them being replaced finally.
And we're bound to see some innovative things
in the whirly bird segment of general aviation
because next week
is the helicopter association international convention.
We have a crew slated to be there
and we'll bring you the latest from the show
in Anaheim, California.
And we have the latest on
the AOPA RV-10 sweepstakes airplane.
Next time you see it,
you probably won't recognize it.
Lancaster Aero in Pennsylvania
is giving the airplane a new paint job
and it will be finished soon.
Keep an eye out for more about the sweepstakes paint
and the big scheme unveiling.
Coming up,
Patty Wagstaff talks about her landing accident.
And choosing the right landmarks
for visual checkpoints.
We'll be right back.
There are many important things to consider
before purchasing an aircraft.
Let the experts at Aerospace Reports
help guide you through the process.
We combine expert knowledge
with our longstanding commitment
to personalized customer service
to perfect your transaction.
Learn more at aerospacereports.com
Death, taxes and notices to airmen being hard to find.
At least one of those is about to change.
January 24, the sun will set
on the FAA's old pilot web NOTAM system.
Users of the FAA's website
will be directed to the more efficient
and user friendly NOTAM search webpage.
That is, those pilots who have
not yet already found the site
since it's already active.
The end of pilot web will occur
slightly sooner than the FAA announced last fall.
A few months after pilot web is gone,
the sun setting
of older sources of information will continue.
The FAA also announced
that as part of the notices
to airmen modernization effort
in which AOPA, by the way,
has played a key advisory role.
The final edition of the notices to airmen publication
or the NTAP,
will be published on May 21.
Publication will be discontinued,
effective June 18.
You check the NOTAMs before you fly
and you also plan out your flight.
As a CFI, I always tell students
that it's important to have visual checkpoints
as part of a VFR flight plan.
But picking the right ones is critical.
AOPA technical editor, Jill Tallman explains.
Even though GPS navigation is so prevalent,
we still need to learn navigation
by pilotage and dead reckoning.
A big part of that,
are landmarks to use as visual checkpoints.
Paul, think back three months ago
when you were planning your long cross country,
what kind of landmarks did you pick?
I was going from Frederick to Johnstown
to Cumberland to Frederick.
So I knew I'd have a couple of ridges I'd be passing
and I knew I'd have the Hagerstown airport abeam me,
so I chose that.
And then I started counting ridges
and I knew at that point hopefully
the wind farms near Johnstown
would come into view and they did.
So it sounds like it all worked out well for you?
Yeah.
Having the visual landmarks to use,
to be able to keep track of where I was going
in addition to the magenta line
and the ForeFlight and the flight following
and everything else I had.
The visual checkpoints are a really good tool to have.
They are.
The landmarks we think
will be easy to spot from 3000 feet
aren't always that great.
Paul and I are going to show you some good landmarks
and some not so good landmarks.
Be careful when picking a body of water as a landmark.
It should be distinctive.
Lake Marburg in Southern Pennsylvania
has a unique shape and two bridges that cross it
which can help distinguish it
from other lakes in the area.
The Susquehanna river is hard to miss
and clearly what you're looking for.
Frederick's Lake Linganore on the other hand,
is hard to find and not that distinct.
Here on the East coast,
train tracks can be hard to spot.
Sometimes they're overgrown
or hard to pick out
amongst the clutter of roads and buildings.
We lucked out on this flight
in that there were box cars
parked along the siding,
making it stand out.
Now out West you'll have better luck
because there's not as much rolling terrain
and trees around a lot of the train tracks.
In fact it goes back
to one of the early idioms of flight,
IFR, I follow railroads.
Airports make great landmarks.
Just so long as
you're not trying to spot a tiny private airstrip.
Here's Maryland's Carroll County Airport.
Pretty easy to see.
Now, tell me where in this orchard
is Baughers Airport.
It's on the sectional.
It has to be there somewhere.
How about some visuals
that are surprisingly easy to spot.
Like the cement plant,
that is a Frederick favorite.
It's about 14 nautical miles North of the airport
and clearly visible from pattern altitude.
Power plants are usually good markers too.
They're often situated on rivers.
Just remember not to fly too low over a power plant.
So be open to things you might not have considered.
And don't be surprised,
if something you thought would be a good landmark
doesn't work out.
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Well, well, you know,
picking a good landmark is really the key.
It is and it's amazing how things
that seem obvious on the chart
aren't always so obvious
when you're out there flying or flying around.
So yeah, good, good advice there.
It is.
And you know when you get the ones that are great,
there's no question where you are.
You know, once you see that,
you know exactly where you are on your chart,
and you can't beat that.
And it brings a lot of confidence
when you see the first one and get it right.
It's like, okay, we're on our way.
Yes.
Well, no matter how well you plan your flight,
unexpected can happen.
The Air Safety Institute's.
There I Was Podcast is all about
unpredictable scenarios and how pilots survive them.
Latest episode, aerobatic star Patty Wagstaff
talks about lessons learned
after a runway excursion accident
in her V-Tail Bonanza.
All of a sudden
the plane sort of
veers right into the grass
and it hit a berm
and the plane started to go over and it did.
It just went straight over,
tail over nose
and ended up upside down on the grass.
You can find the There I Was Podcast
on your favorite podcast app
or the AOPA website.
That's it for our show this week.
Like comment and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
And let us know what you think.
Our email is on your screen.
We'll see you next week.
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is an exciting experience.
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Saving you money with lower interest rates
and hassle free loans.
So you get into your new aircraft sooner.
AOPA finance, the right approach
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