In Flight USA

To list your group’s event on a space available basis, please send your event notice with date, time, place w/city and state, contact name, and phone number to: Calendar, In Flight USA, P.O. Box 5402, San Mateo, Calif. 94402, or email vickie@inflightusa.com. Note: Calendar includes only information available by our press date. Confirm the status before attending. JANUARY January 3: Fitness Under the Wings, Riverside, OH, airforcemuseumfoundation.org/events/ 3: Hangar Talk, Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, CA, F4U-1A Corsair, planesoffame.org 3: Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV Open Cockpit, Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs, CA palmspringsairmuseum.org 10: A Convenient Villain, Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos, CA, hiller.org 10: Brigadier General Yeager, Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs, CA palmspringsairmuseum.org 11: The Wally Hale Memorial Aviation Day, Imperial County Airport, Imperial, CA…

With three service locations and an on-hand stock of over $1.5M in new Diamond Aircraft replacement parts and components, Premier Aircraft can now fulfill customer AOG and maintenance needs faster and more cost-effectively than anyone else Premier Aircraft, the longest-standing and most trusted Diamond Aircraft dealer in America, announced on Jan. 8 that it has been named the North American Platinum Distributor for Diamond Aircraft parts. “Whether flying for business, leisure, or flight training, every Diamond Aircraft owner wants access to the replacement parts they need as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. AOGs are losing money,” stated Travis Peffer, CEO of Premier Aircraft. “For over 20 years, Premier Aircraft has been dedicated to helping Diamond Aircraft owners get the most value out of these wonderful airplanes, and now that we…

For this writer, 2026 marks year number 67 as a professional pilot and 70 years since taking my first flight lesson in the popular trainer of the day, an Aeronca 7AC Champ. Aircraft flown rang from a 1928 Pietenpol Aircamper to the Boeing 747, concluding with the Orion spacecraft hot mock-up. Advance technology airplanes are now my specialty, but welcome just about anything that flies. In between these extremes lie more than 140 flying machines such as GA type planes, warbirds, and corporate jets. I never broke the speed of sound but have flown high enough to see the curvature of the earth. So, who is the “Dumb and Dumber” pilot I reference in the title of this article… yep… none other than myself. The bottom line of this month’s…

The beginning of a new year! While customary celebrations that accompany the turning of the calendar each year are really more ceremony and traditions than a significant point in history, it does cause people to reflect upon the past year and set expectations for the new year. In conjuring on what would be appropriate for editorial comment in our January issue, this writer was tempted to summarize aviation events of 2025, both applauding and criticizing actions, rules, and policies. But one nagging subject kept coming to the forefront, a subject that has become an integral part of this writer’s daily instructional activities. So, instead of the typical retrospective, let’s start the new year with a three part “Howler.” What’s a “Howler?” Clearly, one who asks that question is not a…

Conducted by In Flight USA’s Annamarie Buonocore In Flight USA: To get started, tell us a little bit about your aviation background. How did you first get involved in flying? Rick Rzepka: I’ve wanted to fly my whole life. As a kid, I went to airshows and thought aviation was the coolest thing in the world. I always planned to fly “someday,” and about 25 years ago I finally said, “It’s time.” I originally earned my private pilot certificate nearly 35 years ago, but life got busy — I owned dental offices, raised kids, ran around constantly. When my kids started going off to college, I realized I had the time to return to aviation. I began flying regularly again, started working on my instrument rating, and really jumped back…

I’ll never forget a late afternoon approach to a small airfield, dust swirling from the dry terrain. One second, I had a clear view of the runway; the next, it vanished in a cloud of particles. Instruments confirmed I was on course, but my eyes screamed chaos. It was in that moment — trusting training, anticipating the unexpected, and integrating every cue available — that I realized spatial awareness is not just a skill; it is survival. Spatial orientation — the ability to understand your position in three dimensions relative to the ground, horizon, and other aircraft — is often underestimated. Pilots think they “feel” where they are, or rely on instruments alone. Yet, environments change, sensory cues fail, and human perception can betray even the most experienced aviators. Over…