Aviation Blog

I recently attended WAI 2026 in Dallas! I have never attended WAI before, but I have been to other great conferences such as NBAA in Las Vegas and UAA. They hosted WAI at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. It was such a well organized event with plenty of opportunity to walk the exhibit floor or go to speaker sessions: Day in the Life of a pilot, Airline Panel, imposter syndrome, etc. There, I spoke with regional airline recruiters from Republic, GoJet, Endeavor, Envoy, P

To prepare to go to a big aviaiton conference soon, I have to polish up my resume! Over the years, my resume has changed drastically. In high school, my resume was heavily focused on education and volunteer work. As I move into professional roles as a pilot, my resume looks a lot different than your typical resume does. Pilot resumes are a different genre of resume all together. They include columns which you would not find on a resume for a doctor, or a barista, or a librari

When I am preparing to fly a new airplane, here are some things I think about to help my transition be as smooth and seamless as possible: Know your V speeds (Vr, Vy, and Vg at a minimum) Emergency procedures like the back of your hand Big system differences (carb vs fuel injected?) Does it require a complex or high performance endorsement? Ask to get a copy of the POH for checklist usage and general information several days before the flight Avionics setup Weight and balance

In mid-March, I plan to transition through the Atlanta class Bravo and land at PDK (Peachtree Dekalb Airport). The Atlanta bravo is a monstrous airsapce, and surrounds likley the busiest airport in the U.S. Below the bravo also sit some very busy class D airspaces such as PDK, Dobbins AFB, RYY, and FTY, all within a couple miles of each other. I plan to file IFR from my home airport to PDK, stop for a an hour, and then make the trip back home. Although I fly out of a class B

Checkrides are an open book test, meaning, you can utilize any FAA resource to help assist you complete the checkride. My favorite resources consist of the PHAK (pilot handbook of aeronautical knowledge) and the AFH (airplane flying handbook). Both are great resources! However, if you show up to your checkride having neither opened either book before, you are doing yourself a great diservice. These items are some of the best study materials to help prepare yourself for checkr

In honor of recent IFR weather, I decided to cover filing and cancelling IFR flight plans in this article. To file, the most efficient way according to yours truly, is through ForeFlight. The way I start is by pressing the FPL (flight plan) tab on the Maps page, and route out my plan there. Once I have picked the altitude, route, departure time, and plane, I then import it into the Flights tab. From there, I can get a weather briefing, check out performance aspects of the tri

As my last semester of college has ramped up, finding time to be a student while being a flight instructor becomes difficult. However, it is entirely manageable, and here I'll explain how efficient study habits made my life easier while obtaining my ratings. To my students who are going through their ratings, whether in school or not, I understand the stress that comes with that. However, I sense that a lot of them are making their life harder by not setting aside the proper

Recently, I had the opportunity to fly a brand new 182 still in the engine break in phase. It had everything a pilot could want in it: full glass cockpit, autopilot, air conditioning, heated propeller, oxygen, ADS-B in, and was even turbocharged. However, while reading the POH on the best procedures for engine break in, something caught my eye. Among learning to lean the mixture using the turbine inlet temperature gauge and other things, unless my memory is at fault, it actua

Unlike the U.S Postal Service, rain, sleet, or snow can limit us from operation. Early morning cold starts, buildup of frost or ice on wings overnight, or flying through freezing or below freezing temperature aloft can pose problems for GA aircraft. Frost, a common nuisance to see on the aircraft during a cold morning block needs to be removed before flight. Besides the risks of flying with frost, the regulation 91.527 states that " No pilot may take off an airplane that has

Since I started my flight instructor job back in late June, I have accrued over 700 hours, mainly comprised of dual instruction given. Here and there in my logbook are sprinkles of solo time from when I flew to get my high performance endorsement, strict PIC time, or dual recieved when working on my MEI among other things. Before my first day, my of my bossess told me to be ready to "survive the first 500 hours of dual instruction". I am lucky to say I have in fact survived t

As we begin our new year, and I continue to build my experience as a flight instructor and reaching the mid-900 mark, I have come to realize how quickly I am approaching the end of this transitional period in my life from general aviation to commercial operations at an airline. I expect by fall of this year, I will have surpassed the 1,500 hour minimum, marking my eligibility for ATP. Now by all means I do not expect to go from 1,499 and then to 1,500 and expect to have a CJO

On April 19th, the MSAA hosted our second annual Fly-In and Career Day! This year's Fly-In was bigger and better! Over 650 attendees and exhibitors came out to the MSAA Fly-In, an event hosted at Signature Aviation FBO and International Paper Corporate Hangar. We are deeply grateful towards our sponsors and exhibitors: Air Line Pilots Associaton (ALPA) Air National Guard AirVenture Flight Center Alpha Eta Rho Aviation Fraternity Army National Guard AviNation Collierville High

Another month, another event! In March of 2025, MSAA members had the opportunity to meet with FedEx Corporate Aviation Executives and tour their facility and see their fleet up close! Cheif Pilot and Assitant Cheif Pilot, Jim and Calvin welcomed us to their hangar where we attended a presentation highlighting FedEx's corporate aviation sector. Chad, FedEx's head of Safety and Operations, joined us for the presentation and answered questions about Part 91 operations, lifestyle

Februrary 2025 was an exciting time for the MSAA. In between planning for the Fly-In and Career Day we planned to host in April, we had the chance to tour Memphis Tower and TRACON at the International Airport! For security reasons, no pictures were allowed inside the facility, but we made do. For those who don't know what a TRACON facility is, a TRACON, or Terminal Radar Approach Control, is an ATC facility where air traffic controllers sequence aircraft in and out of an airs

Alpha Eta Rho (AHP) is a professional collegiate aviation organization founded in 1929 to bring together students that have a common interest in the field of aviation. Since September 2024, members of the MSAA have been working to establish their very own chapter of AHP at the University of Memphis. In April 2025, that goal became a reality. At the MSAA Fly-In and Career Day on April 19th, members of the MSAA and new faces to AHP were inducted in the Univeristy of Memphis AHP

The Memphis Stuent Aviation Association (MSAA) is a student organization comprised of students at the University of Memphis studying Commercial Aviation. Since its founding in 2022, the MSAA has represented itself at or hosted events supporting aviation education in the Memphis area. Such events include attending regional and national aviation conferences, hosting an annual Fly-In and Career Day at the Memphis International Airport, promoting aviation safety through a weekley

As the semester wraps up and I happen to have more downtime without school looming over my shoulders, I have had more time to reflect on my goals as a pilot. Now, the typical route of airline pilot certainly comes to mind when you think of the word "pilot". And yes, I have considered that route and it seems to be the most realistic option for a 1500 hour pilot. What I can hope to gain at a regional airline, my first major pilot job after flight instructor, is expereince. It i

Your typical flight students are used to flying 1-3 times per week, while their instructor's are flying 1-3 times per day, usually more. How do instructors stay fresh for students who are lined up for back to back lessons or how do they feel prepared to jump from one plane to the next? The real question lies in what they bring with them to each flight. For me to feel fully prepared for the day ahead, I carry multiple items in my bag that I wouldn't dare make a cross country,

Within the past few weeks, news of the beloved Beechcraft Bonanza permanent retirement has been confirmed. Beechraft and other popular aircraft brand, Cessna, operate under a shared manufactuer company, Textron. Textron has ended production of the Bonanza and has shifted gears towards production of a different aircraft: the Beechraft Denali. The first model Bonanza (BE-35) began production in the 1940's, with its first flight in December 1945. Soon after, it became avaliable

Navigation Logs, or Nav Logs, are a tool that pilots learn how to make and use during private pilot training. In "the olden days" where GPS or Foreflight didn't exist, pilots had to use the skills of dead reckoning and pilotage to navigate to where they planned to go. In this article, I'll list my steps for creating a successful paper nav log! This is not to substitute a ground lesson with your CFI, but can be a refresher if you have forgotten which step to do first, or when

Marshaller guiding an aircraft into a parking spot Fueling your own aircraft? Stopping at an FBO? Crew Car? These might be foreign concepts to student pilots, and are often unknowingly skipped by CFI's in private pilot training. Practical scenarios like these are essential parts of real world flying. They usually don't come up in training unless your CFI goes out of their way to introduce these topics to you. Normally, you might not stop at an FBO because you are never flying

At my flight school, there are several Cessna 152 airplanes that many of our students and instructors fly. If you are able to stay within the envelope in a Cessna 152, you should take it for a flight with an instructor. I did my private pilot training in a Cessna 172, and something I remember vividly from it is that I struggled with power-on stalls near the end of my training. I could set up the maneuver perfectly, but the recovery never felt quite right. I would always exper

Did you know that your new 2026 paper copy of the FAR/AIM does not contain ALL regulations that govern flights in the United States? This is something I did not realize until I started working on my commercial certificate and learned more about different types of operations that work under rules beyond Part 91 or 61. The most well known are Part 121 or 135 which govern airline and charter operations respectivley. But there are other niche regulations that govern Part 125 oper

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/aviationprogram/index.htm When most people think "pilot", they think "airline". This is known as Part 121 flying. Think Southwest, American, FedEx, Frontier or any other major airline. I have been blessed to grow up under the influence of my father, who is an airline pilot. However, growing up, I never considered being a pilot, it was simply the job my father did. In my eyes, he went to some cool places such as Canada, Sioux Falls, Bozeman, Boise, San

A phrase commonly heard in flight training is, "stay ahead of the airplane!". As a student pilot, you may have trouble decoding that phrase really means, all while trying to maintain altitude and heading, responding to ATC, and listening to your instructor. Staying ahead of the aircraft isn't about being perfecly on headings, airspeeds, and altitudes though, its about anticipating what is to come next and preparing yourself and the aircraft for it. Early on in your training,

The MOSAIC Rule, or the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificate, will take effect later this month on October 22nd, making general aviation more accessible and changing the definitions of light sport aircraft (LSA). Light sport aircraft are mainly flown by sport pilots. Possessing the sport pilot license allows the holder to fly as a hobby from airport to airport and only with an instructor endorsement. Sport pilots, unlike private pilots, have many limitations on

As we move into the beginning of October and the experience the true start of fall, we start to see the changing of the season occur:...

MEI Checkride: Passed! General aviation, by defintion, are all civillian air operations other than scheduled air services. It takes place...

In the spirit of taking my most recent checkride, MEI (multi-engine instructor), I thought it would be great to discuss checkrides - how...

Hello all! My name is Anna Leoni. I currently attend the University of Memphis and am on track to graduate in Spring 2026! Additionally,...