What Aviation Sites Do You Crave?

Keith Ward

Keith Ward

Pre-Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Messages
74
Location
Westminster, MD
Display Name
Display name:
Druvanius
Hiya, folks! For my first post, I wanted to find out what flying sites you visit regularly. Which ones can't you live without? Thanks for any and all help!

(A bit about me: I'm re-entering flying after a 14-year hiatus to do the "raise kids" thing, so I need to get a re-education. I'm amazed at how much things have changed!

My brand-new Twitter handle is @WriteFlight. Feel free to follow me! I'm a long-time journalist in north-central Maryland, and want to combine my love of writing with my passion for aviation.)

I'm looking forward to getting to know you, my fellow pilots!
 
The site I'm craving is the one that gives locations for free fuel . . .

Normally visit here and my type club.

AOPA's website has lots ofngood information, but I gave up on their forum a few years ago.
 
Airnav.com for airport and fuel info.

FlightAware for flight tracking.
 
I haven't been to the AOPA board since the Anthony's Bicycle Scandal. Is it even still there?

Rich
 
 
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Facebook 0-200 and 0-300 pages and the 170 type club
 
asicer said:
That sounds like an interesting story. Care to share?
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It was a long time ago. I'd guess about 10 years. A young student pilot named Anthony who didn't own a car and rode his bicycle to the airport for his lessons had his bike stolen. A bunch of us pitched in a few bucks each to his PayPal account so he could buy a new bike. AOPA's mods went totally ape **** over it. Why, I have no idea. But there were threats of bans and suspensions.

I decided to make their lives easier by leaving and never going back. I don't think I was the only one.

Rich
 
I do remember that a lot of users changed their avatars to pictures of bicycles in protest. That part was kind of funny because it drove the mods nuts, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Rich
 
Keith Ward said:
Do you like Airnav.com better than AOPA's tools for that stuff?
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I dropped AOPA several years ago. Even when I was a member I don’t recall anything unique about their tools.

My main use of AirNav is this neat fuel stop calculator. I am not aware of this capability anywhere else.

Another flight tracker is Flightradar24.com.

I got re-current in 2012 after a 20 year hiatus, so I know what you are going through. At least you don’t have to menatally convert ICAO airspace into TCAs, ARSAs, etc all the time like had to for a few years.
 
YouTube, for sure. There is a ton a great content for education and entertainment. Just don’t try and replicate any stupid pilot tricks you see on there.
 
http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com
https://www.biplaneforum.com
http://www.adventurepilot.com/Defau...port=SNC&radius=75&prox=7&run=1#SearchResults
http://airnav.com/airports
https://skyvector.com/ for a quick look at a sectional chart
http://www.adventurepilot.com/Defau...port=SNC&radius=75&prox=7&run=1#SearchResults
and not a website, but Google Earth with a sectional chart overlay is great for flight planning, jump back and forth between the chart and the satellite view to see what you'll be flying over.
 
AOPA has some seminars for returning pilots that may be helpful. I don’t think you have to be a member.
I think non-members can get info here:
https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/lapsed-pilots
There is a section there listing all the changes since 2000.
I personally think AOPA is worth the dues for many reasons, but there is a reason BaskinRobins makes so many flavors.

BTW if you tell us what you are interested in there may be better suggestions.
Ernie
 
Keith Ward said:
Hiya, folks! For my first post, I wanted to find out what flying sites you visit regularly. Which ones can't you live without? Thanks for any and all help!
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Here... There are lots of great folks here, and we have some generally-recurring fly-ins in various places so we get to meet in person, which helps keep the tone of the place positive. That, and @Ted DuPuis 's ban-hammer. :D

AvWeb would have been around when you were flying before, and there's a ton of great content there, especially in the columns. Sadly, most of those are now defunct, but Rick Durden is doing new columns again. The archives of Don Brown's "Say Again" ATC column are excellent, as are John Deakin's "Pelican's Perch" ones, many of which center around engine management.

Facebook is a good place *IF* you already use it anyway. I wouldn't join Facebook just for these groups, but if you're already there anyway, I'm a member of the Private Pilots Club, Mooney Pilots, Wisconsin Pilots, North Texas Aviators, and a couple of other aviation-related groups. (No, I've never lived in NTX - but thanks to this group, I know a lot of pilots there, and they're some of my favorite people!)

The biggest thing that has happened to flying in the last 14 years is that paper charts are rarely used any more since the iPad came out. ForeFlight is the biggest EFB app out there. Garmin has also gotten into the game with Garmin Pilot. I do all of my flight planning in ForeFlight, and now I can beam my flight plan from my iPad to my panel-mounted Garmin GTN 750 GPS. Flying technology has really come a long way in the last 10 years.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you, my fellow pilots!
Click to expand...

Best way to do this: Go to the "Cool Places to Fly" forum and its sub-forums, grab an airplane and fly to one of our gatherings to meet some of us in person! :)
 
Wow, so much great information here! I'm thrilled to be part of such an active community. Many thanks to *everyone* who responded; this is going to be tremendously helpful.

As Obi-Wan said, I've taken my first step into a larger world... :)
 
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