AOPA, ASF and FAA Wings

First, if you're a pilot or want to learn, an AOPA membership is a great idea. Unless you're in an intensive training program to get an airline job -- then your plate is already full.

For the rest of us, a short weekly email of news keeps you focused and the links to new ASF online courses are a great way to keep learning when the weather isn't cooperating. Have you noticed that the nice weather seems to happen in the middle of the week and the weekends are full of blustery, low ceilings and low visibility?
A number of the ASF courses provide credit toward the FAA Wings program. You don't need to use the online courses (and you can't qualify by them alone), but when you live in the boonies, it's a great way to pick up free points and learn a little something.

People who aren't currently participating in Wings should know it changed in 2008. It is more complicated, but once you get setup, a lot of the scut work of tracking qualifying courses, seminars and training is done for you. Basically, they reconfigured it so that it's an indicator of a more broad set of skills and training. It looks like half of your credits need to come from a CFI rating particular flight skills.

The FAA took away those fancy Wings Pins; although if you are an Avemco (insurance) customer, they will give you lapel pins if you keep up your Wings status. A less tangible, but more significant benefit is their discounted rate program for participating pilots.

I haven't been so much as ramp checked by the FAA, but there are a number of stories online about people who got into a conflict with the FAA found that participating in the Wings program got them a lot of slack. They've got regulations that clearly define the actions they take when a pilot breaks a reg, but they have some latitude and understand that sometimes bad luck happens. Being in the FAA's Wings program shows that you're making the effort to continually train and learn. I've heard cases where the FAA rep went from treating the pilot like an idiot child to a buddy who got in a jam when the pilot mentioned being in Wings.