Amazing this little adventure started 9 years ago today! While ReviewBeforeFlight may be dormant right now, I’ll keep these anniversary posts coming. You never know, maybe someday we’ll be back and populating this space with content more frequently. Until then we’ll keep the CFI current (renewed it this summer) and keep the web address reserved.
This is the first post I’ve made since the 7th Anniversary post here. I guess that means it hasn’t been the most productive year for ReviewBeforeFlight. That said, I just couldn’t let the 30th of December go by without at least marking the occasion of the day I started the blog. I created the blog when I was a full time flight instructor, teaching ground school courses and collegiate aviation courses. I wanted to have a space to memorialize items to serve as a reference for my students as well as a place to share my passion for aviation. Little did I know that so many others would contribute to the writing here or that readers from across the world would frequent the site… I may not be actively flight instructing anymore but I maintain my flight instructor certificate, and I maintain this site because of the continued readership.
This past year I returned to the skies for the first time in many years. On the 4th of July I took to the skies over Indiana. It wasn’t to watch fireworks, but it was in the right seat of a Cherokee 180. The CFI I was flying with let me exercise the aircraft and encouraged me to fly through the soft field landings myself. I have to admit, I was overly surprised how amazing my soft field landings were, maybe my best ever. I’m not trying to make a comparison between myself and Ted Williams here, but… They say that Ted Williams was such a good hitter because he could see the ball in slow motion. Well, when I was making those soft field landings, it was like things slowed down and I was one with the airplane. That flight made me remember how much I love flying and I’m grateful to my wife and father-in-law for setting up the opportunity.
As 2021 concludes I have stepped down as President of EAA Chapter 51, but I’m excited to stay involved with the board of directors as Immediate Past President. I opted not to seek reelection with EAA because I am very excited to be the new President of the Massachusetts Airport Management Association (MAMA), which has been a goal of mine for quite some time. I look forward to contributing to advancing aviation in Massachusetts in my new role.
-Fly Safe, @MTElia1B9
It’s been quite a year since I penned the 6th Anniversary Post for ReviewBeforeFlight a year ago. Going into 2020 I had plans of getting back into flying general aviation aircraft, continuing to be active with my local EAA chapter … Continue reading
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Every two years flight instructors must renew their certificate and there are a couple of ways a CFI can do that, including, button limited to… Complete an in-person Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic Complete an online (e-learning) Flight Instructor Refresher Course … Continue reading
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The first powered aircraft flight was not all that long ago in the perspective of human history. December 17, 1903 was just over 117 years ago. When you compare that to Michelangelo completing the painting of the Sistine Chapel in … Continue reading
It’s a very odd time in our lives. As we each deal with COVID-19, a virus that has forced all of us to alter how we live, it means things are different. Many times a post to ReviewBeforeFlight on my … Continue reading
Flight training is a very dynamic environment, especially in the context of the on-going attempt to stem the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) though social distancing and avoiding large groups. There are some takes aways for flight training as well. … Continue reading
Immediately after touching down on the runway there’s a lot to do… If you’re making a touch and go then you’re rapidly cleaning up, while maintaining directional control and readying for power application to complete the “-and-go” portion of the … Continue reading
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