From the Ground School

By Bob Ogilvie

The Fall 2010 Ground School session is nearly finished and a new class begins on Monday, Feb. 14 at 7:00. The fall class has seen numbers drop off slightly, but we’ve been able to maintain an excellent core group and anticipate a number of successful Transport exam writers.

An innovation this session has been the introduction of a dedicated Ground School website where class members can get information, updates, and communicate with each other. Our thanks to Paul Vicano for his leadership in getting this going. We hope to make this a feature of all future classes, not only for use during the session, but also as a method whereby students can keep in touch after they graduate.

I mentioned last time that we would like to pair up our ground school students with more experienced members for a little practice at navigation, radio procedures in zones, and cross country flying. To date, little interest has been shown, but I thought I’d give it another try. The benefit to you would be getting some help with fuel or rental costs, plus, an added bonus is making a new flying acquaintance. There wouldn’t be a schedule or any expectation beyond giving you the new student’s contact information with the hope you would find an opportunity to fly together at some time. Contact me directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 519-759-4258 if you’re interested in working with one of our students.

Did You Know…

As I write this, hundreds of motorists are stranded in their cars on Hwy 402 between London and Sarnia. While none of us would fly in those conditions, it is a reminder that preparation for a night stranded in the cold is good practice in a car, but essential when flying, even in fair weather. A small gym or duffle bag with appropriate survival equipment weighs very little, is easy to carry on to even a rental aircraft and can make a life or death difference in the event of a forced landing. Build your own kit or check out the offerings of Aircraft Spruce and other suppliers.