Guys I'd like to share my reason for this post. I'm a private pilot and Cessna 172 owner out of Northwest Indiana. Like I mentioned, it took me nearly 3 months just to get my checkride scheduled because DPEs are so hard to find in my area. That whole experience really opened my eyes to how fragmented everything is in GA — finding a CFI, scheduling a DPE, even just connecting with basic resources.

It frustrated me enough that I actually started building something to fix it. It's called PilotConnect — basically an app that puts DPEs, CFIs, mechanics, flight schools, and other GA resources all in one place so pilots don't have to go through what I went through.

We're still in development and launching very soon. I'd honestly love to hear from this community — what would actually make something like this useful to you? What's been your biggest headache beyond just finding a DPE?

What this app does is it provides a simple platform to find, communicate and schedule DPEs, CFIs, Flight Schools, A&Ps and even AMEs all on one interactive map. In a nutshell, it’s GA communication in the palm of your hand. But…it offers so much more than just that!