ABSTRACT
A student takes her first solo cross-country flight on the way to a private pilot certificate. An engineer flies his family of four to an isolated airport on the ocean for a weekend of relaxation. A busy sales representative hops into his light twin for a whirlwind tour of manufacturing facilities and possible sales. An agricultural application pilot lines up his turbine powered aircraft using global positioning satellite (GPS navigation) for a run across a Kansas wheat field. At a busy metropolitan trauma centre, an aeromedical evacuation pilot sets her helicopter down on the landing pad as a team of technicians rush forward to receive the victim of another traffic accident. A pilot contacts oceanic control on his way across the North Atlantic in a corporate jet that rivals the capabilities of most airliners. Each of these examples, from the weekend pilot in a simple two-place trainer to the corporate pilot in a glass-cockpit jet, is a part of the world of general aviation.
