General aviation

General aviation is civil flying outside scheduled commercial air transport and military aviation, including private, business, instructional, and recreational operations.

Flight training: Instruction that develops the knowledge and skills needed to operate aircraft safely. Training flights are a major general-aviation activity and a pathway to professional piloting.
General aviation aircraft: Aircraft used for nonmilitary civil operations outside scheduled airline service. Their range—from light trainers to business jets—supports general aviation's varied missions.
Scheduled air transport: Regularly published passenger or cargo air service operating on fixed routes or timetables. It is excluded from general aviation by the distinction between scheduled and other civil flying.
Airport: A designated facility for aircraft arrivals and departures, with runways or other landing areas and supporting infrastructure. General aviation depends on a broad network of airports, many serving little scheduled airline traffic.
Business aviation: Use of aircraft for business travel, typically through private or chartered operations. It is the general-aviation segment devoted to transporting business travelers.
Private pilot licence: A pilot certificate permitting its holder to fly aircraft privately, subject to applicable rules. It enables many personal flights while generally barring paid carriage as a pilot.
Air charter: On-demand air transport arranged for a particular customer or journey rather than a scheduled timetable. Charter flights can fall within general aviation, unlike scheduled airline services.
Air traffic control: A service that manages aircraft movements to promote safe, orderly, and efficient airspace use. General-aviation aircraft share controlled airspace and coordinate with controllers.
Air ambulance: Aircraft-based medical transport for patients needing urgent or specialized care. General-aviation aircraft serve medical transport missions where scheduled airlines cannot.
Visual flight rules: Operating rules that require pilots to navigate primarily by visual reference, subject to weather minima. Many general-aviation flights rely on visual navigation and weather conditions.

Linked from 10 pages