Prez Sez
The weather has been good for November and we hope it will continue well into December. Even if it gets cold there will be many beautiful days for flying in December. The crisp cold weather will make the airplane perform just like the manual says and the sun beating through the cockpit will warm you up just like that holiday cheer. For our winter flyers we will try to put the planes in the hangar overnight to ensure they are ready for flight the next day. We hope this will enable you to come out early and often.
Have you visited us on Facebook yet? Search for A&M Aviation and become a friend. Keep up with our activities, interact with the instructors on various topics, and give us your impute on new programs. One of the programs we will introduce this year will be a monthly seminar to address topics that are of interest to our members. The first one will be about instrument flying on December 15th at the Museum. In January we will discuss the I-Phone and I-Pad and how to utilize it for aviation. Other topics are the G-1000, how to prepare for your check ride, dinner and activity flights you can easily do, just to name a few. The seminars are free and open to the public so bring a friend.
Don’t forget we fly year around at A&M Aviation, the winter offers some of the smoothest and nicest flying of the year. The airplane heaters work very well and the bright sunlight really warms up the cabin. To make your winter flying even more enjoyable we will be hangaring the early morning planes in our heated hangar. This will keep them warm and ready to go in the morning. Nothing beats doing a preflight in the heated hangar on a brisk winter morning.
Training
Is it Time to start your Instrument Rating? An Instrument Rating will make you a better pilot whether you are flying VFR or IFR. It will also make you a safer pilot because of the expanded knowledge you have with regard to weather, airspace, ATC use, and aircraft performance. Winter is a great time to start your instrument rating; you can finish this rating by the summer and use your new skills to fly those trips you always wanted to make. At A&M we offer you a very structured course that is designed to get you your rating in the shortest period of time and provide you with the skills and knowledge to feel safe and fly safely with in the IFR system. We have state of the art airplanes with GPS and MFDs and aircraft with the G-1000 system that offer unbelievable situational awareness, our aircraft have great autopilots that will reduce your work load and make instrument flying enjoyable. Currently all our instructors are capable of training students for their instrument rating. Learn more about getting your instrument rating and see how easy it can be. Join us on December 15th at 6:30PM at the Illinois Aviation Museum at Clow to hear from our Chief Flight instructor, Keith, and get answers to all your questions.
We also have a Frasca 141 that is great for training; it allows you to stop in mid flight and see your mistakes, plot your course over the ground and see how you did vs. the instrument approach you were flying. The only thing that is keeping you from that instrument rating is a two hour commitment per week and a little studying at home. An instrument rating is one of the biggest accomplishments you will ever complete in aviation, for the weekend flyer it will give you the confidence you need to use your license on less than desirable days and get above the clouds for that smooth ride to your destination. For the person looking for the career in aviation it is like crossing the continental divide, its all down hill from there. So call up the Front Desk and schedule your first lesson, begin the adventure.
Variety of Planes
Is it time to get checked out in a new airplane or move up to a twin? A&M Aviation offers a variety of aircraft that are available for rental. We have the Beech Serria, a nice four seat retractable aircraft, the Piper Archer, the Cessna 182, and the Cessna 310R. If you have not yet gotten checked out in one of these aircraft yet consider that your next BFR, or recurrency. It would be a nice change and give you exposure to something new. Have you thought about a twin rating? Our Cessna 310R is a great aircraft, it cruises at 190kts, can carry a lot of weight, has six seats, and is more fun than you can imagine. All these aircraft will be available for extended trips, and we will add a second C-310R if the demand is there.
Pilot Reminders
Now that winter is here we need to follow cold weather starting procedures, including pre-heating if below 20F. Follow the checklist, if you need help ask an instructor. If the plane does not start after five turns of the prop, you need to re-evaluate the starting sequence. It is either under primed or over primed. If the window has ice or frost on it do not use any kind of scrapper. Use a paper or cloth towel. The windows are plastic and will scratch easily. It only takes 10 minutes to pre-heat an aircraft, when in doubt pre-heat.
Gift Certificates
Gift Certificates are available for that special someone. Give the gift of flight; it could change someone’s life. Gift Certificates start at $50.00 and up.
Hours
We are open 8:00AM to 7:00PM every day. If you want to fly after hours schedule with the front desk and we will handle it in the normal fashion. This is also the case with holidays. Although the office is closed we will still have planes available.
Happy Flying,
from JIM and the rest of the A & M Aviation Team
and Jet and Turbo
