Lance and Stephanie were introduced to Hummingbird Aviation by mutual friend and fellow pilot Karl Kankel.

Lance Reddick is star of stage, film and TV. He is also an accomplished musician, recording artist and composer. Numerous stage credits include Julius Caesar, Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN, 1999. Recent television credits include: Swift Justice, 1996; The West Wing, 1999; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 2000-01; Falcone, 2000; Oz, 2000-2001; The Wire, 2002; 100 Centre Street, 2002; The Wire, 2002-08; Law & Order, 2004; CSI: Miami, 2005-06; Numb3rs, 2007; Lost, 2008-09; Fringe, 2008-present.

A key benefit is its built-in battery and antennas allowing for a clutter-free installation without the need for wires running everywhere in your cockpit.

This is an exciting breakthrough in cockpit weather technology and we expect to see more products taking advantage of this technology. Learn more about it at the ForeFlight website.

Aviation welcomes Loren Jones to our training staff. Loren brings more than three decades of airplane piloting and flight instructing experience. He will be focused on both primary and instrument training in our fixed wing aircraft, including recurrent instrument training.

Loren is a big fan of the latest digital cockpit wizardry, so if you need advice or training on iPad-based flight planning products, give Loren a call!

On March 20th, 2012, Mike Alexander successfully completed his Private Pilot Rotorcraft / Helicopter initial rating with Examiner Dave Latt.  Mike’s instructor was Jimmy Young. Congratulations, Mike!

We recently added a beautiful Cherokee 140 (PA28-140) to our rental fleet. N9612W is a very well-equipped, IFR-capable 140 with dual digital King radios plus a Garmin 496 mounted in the panel. The 140 is considered a “2+2″ configuration, meaning it can carry two people plus bags, or four people with no bags. Come out and get checked out in this great flying machine.

Tom Platner successfully completed his Light Sport Pilot license on December 16, 2011 in the Jabiru 170. Tom’s instructor was Chris Cooper and his Designated Examiner was Barbara Mack. Congratulations, Tom!  Fly safe!

Chair Flying. As silly as it may seem using that imagination on your down time has been known to improve your flying.  There are many times I have gone up with a student and asked them to perform a particular maneuver which they have done many times before and they draw a blank on the first step to perform.  These tasks include clearing turns, gauge checks, control inputs, airspeeds and altitudes, and any other sequential step in the maneuver.  Simple chair flying allows you to become familiar with the steps to be taken to perform a particular maneuver.  Once you know exactly what to do you now have more attention to spend on perfecting the maneuver.  Chair flying also allows you to visualize the maneuver and physically make the inputs, so you can get a little muscle memory.

Learning style Getting to know your learning style is very important for you and your instructor.  Learning style plays a big role in how effectively you will learn, and if the instructor cannot mach their teaching method to your learning style things can become frustrating quickly.  People perceive and process information in different ways, so the more you know about the way you learn the more effective the teaching can be.

There are 3 basic types of learners: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic.  Visual learners tend to be the largest part of the population.  Visual learners learn best by visual aids, charts, graphs, and course outlines.  If you are a visual learner make sure to take notes in class and even rewrite important points.  Make sure to sit at the front of the class to avoid distraction.  Auditory learners tend to have very developed language skills, and learn best by listening to lectures.  Audio tapes, reciting notes, and reading out load will help you retain information.  You should also study with a friend, so you can talk through main points.  Kinesthetic learners are “hands on” learners who learn the best by doing.  Movement in class is always a good thing, and even moving about the room can enhance memorization of information while studying.  Colored transparencies or plotters can help focus attentions on reading when laid over text.  Make sure that during your study you take frequent but short breaks.

Stay regular in your flight training Keeping your flying schedule regular makes a big difference in the long run.  A few flights a week are always more beneficial to leaning than one flight every two weeks.  This helps you retain the information previously learned.  If you do fly only once every two weeks you spend a little more time relearning what you did  in the last lesson.  Keep in mind that there is also too much of a good thing as well, and flying too much (i.e. Three times in a day) can overload you.  When flights are too close together you may not be able to learn as much as you would if you had more of a break to reflect and reenergize.  Everyone is different so it is important to find the right pace for you.

Confess anxieties It is very normal for everyone to be a little nervous about a certain subject or maneuver in aviation.  Fears can arise for many different reasons; maybe past experience, a bad demonstration, and sometimes fears even manifest themselves in something that we may not be directly afraid of.  No matter what the reason it is important to understand that fear is normal, and equally as important that your instructor knows of them.  Fear and anxiety have a way of narrowing your perceptual field and can make it very difficult to learn a maneuver.  If your instructor knows that this maneuver makes you uncomfortable they easily tailor the maneuver to make it less nerve-racking, and therefore easier to learn.

In the end there is no easy way to make aviation cheap, but the little things you do coupled with dedication can take some of the financial sting out of flying.  Communication with your instructor is important in flight training, so be sure all of your questions about your training are being answered.