April 2026 Newsletter — Oshkosh Aviation

*Photo taken by Dan Lauerman after an evening training flight at KOSH, Oshkosh, WI* --- With spring and the beginning of summer comes a busier flying season. Everyone is looking forward to clear skies and continuing to progress with their training. Pilot training is not slowing down. Many people are expressing interest in getting their pilot's license and we continue to try and help however we can. We continue working with local airports to find a home to build our training operation. Municipal codes and the cost to build to meet them make it difficult for a new operation to get off the ground. That hasn't stopped us, and the process continues. There is so much learning happening along the way that I'll be starting to share some of it, the challenges and the successes, in video format to help others trying to do the same. Watch for upcoming links to the new video series. --- ## The Part 141 Overhaul: Why Part 61 Pilots Should Pay Attention The FAA is working on the biggest overhaul of Part 141 flight school regulations in decades. The National Flight Training Alliance submitted a 471-page report recommending sweeping changes: centralized FAA oversight, mandatory safety and quality management systems, expanded simulator credit, and competency-based training models. This is not a final rule. It's an industry recommendation, and the public comment period is open through May 11, 2026. Read the docket and submit comments at regulations.gov, Docket FAA-2024-2531. If you train or instruct under Part 61, this still matters. Part 61 isn't going away, but a generational shift in how the other half of the training world operates creates ripple effects: DPE availability, student expectations around technology and structured training, how insurers view schools without formal safety management systems, and the competitive landscape for independent operators and CFIs. The executive summary and eight principal recommendations are about 25 pages and cover the essentials. If you've trained, instructed, or operated in GA, your perspective matters. Comments are due May 11. --- ## From the Logbook: Why New Flying Experiences Make You a Better Pilot One of the best things you can do as a student pilot, or as someone thinking about starting, is to seek out new and challenging experiences and do them safely. The pilots who improve the most keep pushing past what's familiar. Over the last few months I had a chance to do some of that myself. In January, a work trip brought me to Scottsdale, Arizona. I visited a local flight training operation and got to sit co-pilot in a Kodiak 100, a turboprop aircraft. A few firsts for me: first turbine engine, first mountainous terrain, first time flying anywhere outside the Midwest. I wasn't flying the approaches or running the checklists. I was in the right seat, watching and learning. But sitting up front for engine start and getting a feel for climbs and turns in that airplane was something I won't forget. A few weeks later I was visiting family in Texas and crossed something off my bucket list: a helicopter discovery flight in a Robinson R-22.  I love airplanes and am not going anywhere from fixed-wing flying, but I've always wanted to add a helicopter rating eventually. The transition was something else. My instructor was patient while I fought every instinct from fixed-wing flying. I kept worrying my airspeed was getting too low, then had to remind myself that helicopters don't need forward movement to stay in the air. As a CFI I spend a lot of time in the pattern at KOSH. Repetition builds real skill and there's no shortcut for it. But stepping outside your usual routine, flying a different aircraft, visiting a new airport, flying with an instructor you haven't met before, makes everything you already know stick better. Most importantly, it keeps flying fun. --- ## Tip of the Month **Practice your briefings at home, before you ever get in the airplane.** The safety briefing, pre-takeoff briefing, and pre-landing briefing are some of the most important habits you can build as a pilot. They get everyone in the airplane on the same page and make you think through the next phase of flight before you find yourself in the middle of it. Never skip them. Come up with a format that works for you, something you can remember easily and say clearly every time. Then practice it out loud at home until it feels natural. The cockpit is not the place to be figuring out what you want to say. --- ## Pilots & Pastries — April 25 at KOSH  A casual GA pilot meetup at the terminal. Any pilot, any aircraft. Fly in or drive in, grab a cup of coffee, swap some hangar stories. - **Date:** Saturday, April 25, 2026 - **Time:** 8:00–9:30am local - **Field:** KOSH, Wittman Regional, Terminal Building - **Arrival:** Air or ground. No RSVP needed. Bring a friend. --- As always, if you have questions about training, want to schedule a flight, or just want to talk flying, reply to this email. I read every one. Hope to see you at Pilots and Pastries on the 25th. Blue skies, **Dan Lauerman** Oshkosh Aviation 920-358-0581 dan@oshkoshaviation.com oshkoshaviation.com