If you keep tabs on current aviation news and social media, you’ve noticed this thing called “STOL” has become popular. Not a day goes by that you don’t see a reference to STOL, a reminder of an upcoming STOL event, or even an image or video of a STOL airplane approaching a gravel bar or a makeshift dirt strip. What is STOL, why is it growing like a wildfire, and how can you learn more about it?
“Flying is boring,” said no pilot. Ever. Although most will agree that on a long VFR cross country flight, there are stretches of time when your mind can wander. Other than doing the usual drill during those lulls, here are some suggestions to put slack time to good use. In classic David Letterman style, here are the top 10 activities for a cross country flight.
New pilots: do you want to know how to learn a lot about flying in a short period of time? Plan a long cross country flight… I mean, a really long one. When I decided to fly my “new” ‘63 Cherokee 180 most of the way across the U.S. to my summer vacation destination, at first I didn’t realize how valuable the lessons learned along the way would be.