Finding your way through Brooks Range mountain passes by Tom George, AOPA Alaska Regional Manager

An FAA policy change approved last November allows the use of VFR checkpoints in the vicinity of hightraffic mountain passes to improve safety. Three Brooks Range passes are the first in the country totake advantage of this change, designed to help pilots find their way and communicate with other VFRpilots while in confined terrain. Background:Major…

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Float Plane Pilots are Aging Out by Laura Emerson

Airplane pilots are aging out, with new pilots below replacement levels. Managementfirm Oliver Wyman estimates a deficit of 8000 commercial pilots now, rising to 30,000 by 2025. This is particularly true for the tiny subset of float plane pilots, who comprise just 3% oftotal pilot numbers (including my husband). The 2021 FAA statistics counted 161,459…

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A Tail-Less Raven by Bernie Willis

My good wife is always pleased when I ask something about her interests. Last weekshe was walking with a friend and saw a tail-less raven flying along with a normallooking raven. They both saw it confirming that it really had no tail. So it was fair toask, how can it fly? I had some ideas…

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Behind the Scenes of the Alaska Airmen Scholarship Program by Dennis Bedford (former Board Member) and Nick Kellar (current Board Member) 

Starting in 2016 we began to explore how to properly manage an effective scholarship program. That year we awarded 4 scholarships totaling $11,000. By setting clear guiding principles and partnering with the community, we have grown the program each year. Last year being our biggest with 67 awarded scholarships totaling $102,000.   Plenty has been written…

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WELCOME TO 2023 AND A NEW YEAR WITH NEW OPPORTUNITIES! By John M. Dahlen

Happy New Year! (US & Canada), З Новим роком! (Ukrainian); С Новым Годом! (Russian); あけまして おめでとう ございます! (Japanese); Bonne année! (French); Frohes neues Jahr! (German);Gelukkig nieuwjaar! (Belgian); 新年快乐! (Mandarin). No matter where you live, or how and whenyou say it, it’s time to preserve the best of our 2022 memories, haul the rest of 2022…

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Why Do You Fly? by Bernie Willis

Last time we talked, it was confirmed that we fly a lot and significantly morethan our friends around the world. I wonder why that is… Let’s consider someoptions and see if I get it right. My first idea is that we fly because we want to get somewhere the roaddoesn’t go. I’d been in Alaska…

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