‘You Can Fly’

Most will go to their local airport and hopefully see a sign that says, “Learn to fly here.” Once they walk into the flight school, the experience can vary significantly. Some will meet a smiling person in the reception area who seems to have an answer to every question and a folder full of information to take home.

But flight schools are busy places, and sometimes that wide-eyed student with questions (and a little trepidation) may find the person who can provide the best answers is out flying. Or they may take a discovery flight, fall in love with flying (how can they not?), and not ask or remember the next steps in this exciting journey before leaving to tell their family and friends about their adventure.

Our desire is to give student pilots a clear understanding of their flight training path.That’s why we created a special issue of Flight Training titled “You Can Fly: Your Path to Become a Pilot.” The You Can Fly issue is distributed free of charge to 1,000 of the most active flight schools in the United States, prepackaged in highly visible countertop displays to be placed in the reception area. Over the past five years, flight schools have handed out half a million of these fun, colorful, information-packed guides to everyone walking into their schools for the very first time dreaming about becoming a pilot.

The Publications team has a lot of fun putting these special issues together. We try to think of all the questions someone interested in learning to fly might ask—and provide straightforward answers with plenty of helpful illustrations and amazing photography.

The publication sheds light on what to expect—from the first introductory flight in a general aviation airplane through initial training. Flight Training’s editors detail the steps to becoming a pilot, different paths to the sky, medical certification options, training airplanes they’ll fly, gear they’ll need, deciphering aviation’s unique vocabulary, paying for training, and more.

Our desire is to give student pilots a clear understanding of their flight training path so they can successfully earn their certificate and become a part of this special community of pilots we all enjoy. For extra inspiration, we also include quotes from popular aviation social media influencers about why they fly.

Every year we update the content and redesign the issue, and this month the sixth annual You Can Fly issue was sent to flight schools. If you work at or know of a flight school that did not receive a You Can Fly countertop display, you can request one, while supplies last, at [email protected].

The You Can Fly issue also contains a limited-time offer for a free one-year membership to AOPA for new student pilots. The free membership includes a digital subscription to Flight Training or AOPA Pilot magazine, the Flight Training weekly newsletter, members-only premium aviation training content, and a student pilot helpline for one-on-one support.

All Flight Training subscribers receive a digital version of this issue. If you are unfamiliar with Flight Training, it is AOPA’s multimedia brand dedicated to flight training topics for pilots of all experience levels. Flight Training is one of three magazines AOPA members can choose to subscribe to as part of their membership (AOPA Pilot and AOPA Pilot Turbine Edition are the other two options). You can switch your subscription to Flight Training at any time by calling member services at 1-800-USA-AOPA. Or, you can add a print edition of Flight Training to your membership for $21 per year (a digital edition add-on is available for $10 per year).

Based on the positive feedback we’ve received for this special issue each year, we’re confident the 2025 issue will achieve its goal of encouraging future pilots. If you know of someone who might be interested in learning to fly, please suggest they download their own digital version of the You Can Fly issue at ft.aopa.org/youcanfly. Together, we can reach hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts and provide a helpful resource that will assure them: Yes, you can fly.

[email protected]