Pilot Training | Plane & Pilot Magazine

Plane & Pilot Magazine's dedicated pilot training section represents one of the longer-standing editorial commitments to general aviation education in U.S. print media, with the publication maintaining its focus on practical flight instruction content for more than five decades. Operating under the FLYING Media umbrella, the magazine targets a broad spectrum of aviators — from student pilots pursuing their private certificate to experienced aircraft owners managing recurrent training obligations — and its training content reflects the full arc of that readership. Current coverage includes guidance on checkride preparation, cross-country technique, instrument proficiency, and avionics literacy, with particular attention to platforms like the Garmin G1000 that now dominate trainer and light aircraft fleets. The editorial posture is practitioner-oriented, emphasizing applicable technique over regulatory abstraction.

Among the more operationally significant topics appearing in the publication's training section is the ongoing shortage of Designated Pilot Examiners. FAA data cited in research context indicates approximately 1,200 active DPEs remained in service as of 2024, a figure representing roughly a 10 percent decline from 2020 levels — a contraction occurring simultaneously with a post-COVID surge in training demand estimated at 15 percent above pre-pandemic baselines. For working CFIs and their students, this creates a compounding problem: more candidates pursuing certificates and ratings are competing for fewer available examiners, extending timelines and, in some markets, requiring candidates to travel significant distances for checkrides. The FAA launched an initiative in 2024 targeting the certification of 500 additional examiners by 2026, but the pipeline effect means relief will likely remain uneven across regions for the near term.

For professional pilots operating under Part 121, 135, or 91K, the relevance of the general aviation training ecosystem extends beyond initial certification. The pilot shortage affecting regional and corporate operators has its roots in the same training infrastructure — flight school capacity, CFI retention, and examiner availability — that publications like Plane & Pilot serve. When the pipeline narrows at the student and instrument rating level, the downstream effect on ATP applicant pools is measurable. Corporate flight departments recruiting pilots from the regional ranks, or sponsoring ab initio candidates, have a vested interest in the health of the broader training system. The magazine's coverage of CFI certification — which requires 15 to 25 hours of dedicated flight training under FAA standards — is also relevant to operators who encourage or support their pilots in maintaining instructor credentials for insurance and currency purposes.

Plane & Pilot occupies a distinct position relative to its closest institutional competitor, AOPA's Flight Training magazine, which is available at no additional cost to association members and carries an explicit curricular orientation tied to AOPA's training advocacy priorities. Plane & Pilot, by contrast, operates as a paid subscription product with editorially independent aircraft reviews, product recommendations, and training guidance that is not tied to any membership organization. For pilots and operators seeking training content outside the AOPA ecosystem — or those evaluating training aircraft on the market — the publication provides a complementary perspective. The broader landscape of aviation print media, which also includes the ALPA-published Air Line Pilot serving professional airline crews, reflects an industry that continues to stratify its information consumption along the lines of certificate level, operating environment, and professional status, with each segment demanding content calibrated to its specific regulatory and operational context.