By Michael Chang, EAA Lifetime 1109992
I started learning to fly in 2012 at Trade Winds Aviation flight school in San Jose, California. I spent most of my hours learning to fly in a Remos GX light-sport aircraft. I earned my sport pilot certificate in 2015. I built a Zenith CH 750 Cruzer in 2022, and after moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico (yikes, high density altitude), I have been flying it ever since.
When it would come time for my biennial flight review, I always traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to attend Fly Eagle flight school because they were the only ones that had Remos GX aircraft and could do a biennial flight review for me as a sport pilot. This past October my most recent BFR was due, but when I contacted Fly Eagle flight school, they informed me that their entire fleet of Remos aircraft had been grounded.
Not wanting to wait until the issue was resolved, and because MOSIAC was now in effect and I was now permitted to fly a Cessna 172, I contacted my local flight school and asked if I could have an “introductory flight” in a Cessna 172 and then a BFR. It all worked out. I saved money by not having to travel to a flight school in another state, I gained a new experience by flying a different aircraft, and my local flight school got more business.
As the incoming president of EAA Chapter 1570, my first technical presentation at our monthly meeting will be “MOSIAC — What it means to older private pilots.”