The Tie that Binds

Founded in 1940 as Merrell Aviation Ground School for purpose of training World War II military pilots returning from active duty to work in the early civilian airlines, the company known today as Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. (ASA) has had numerous unique and surprising incarnations.

In 1969, the goal of franchising the popular Merrell Ground School under the name Aviation Seminars of America—or ASA—compelled the company to change its name to Northwest School of Aviation.

In 1976, the appellation Aviation Supplies and Academics replaced Aviation Seminars of America as the name to which the ASA acronym alluded. The company’s product line broadened from plotters, regulations, and training manuals to include cassette-tape courses, new books, and increasingly modern training materials. Incorporation followed in 1977, as did a principal mission shift from retail to publishing and manufacturing.

In 1984, the sale of the Aviation Training and Research, Inc. ground school and The Aviator’s Store retail enterprise allowed ASA to ply the entirety of its resources and efforts to becoming a major supplier of pilot supplies and educational material in the United States. In 1985, the company undertook a series of relocations that ultimately landed it in western Washington State.

The ASA FAR/AIM has been in publication since 1945, and the ASA Test Preps—of which innumerable pilots have availed themselves—have been in production for more than sixty-years. On 20 December 2022, ASA announced the release of the fifteenth edition of its Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide, a tome essential to those seeking to fathom the eldritch symbology of FAA sectional, terminal area, flyway planning, helicopter route, enroute low-and high-altitude, and oceanic route charts, as well as standard terminal arrival routes, standard instrument departures, and instrument approach procedures. The publication includes chart legends, airspace classification tables, and is illustrated throughout with full-color graphics.

The guide is an excellent reference for novice and experienced pilots alike, as well as for international pilots seeking to better familiarize themselves with U.S. charts.

FMI: www.asa2fly.com