As if on cue from an invisible orchestra conductor, everyone stands. Thousands of men, women, and children. As one, they turn their heads to the southeast, faces to the sky.
No, it isn’t for the national anthem. It’s for the start of the Unlimited Gold Race at the National Championship Air Races at Reno, Nevada.
A scratchy radio transmission is patched through the public address system: “Gentlemen, you have a race.” [Read more…]
The sun has just risen over the rim of the desert. The moon hangs over the dry, treeless mountains. It’s chilly. I hunker down in my windbreaker. It’s deathly quiet, except for the occasional far away rumble of an aircraft engine, wafting over the desert like distant thunder.
The soil is chalky white, populated only by low scrubs, chamisa, sage, and a few hearty clumps of grass. I’m at inner pylon 2, perhaps the loneliest spot on the planet, but a front row seat for the action to come. [Read more…]
Good news everyone, NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart says we are doing better.
“Even though the fatality rate in 2015 was the lowest it has been in many years,” said Hart when the 2015 aviation accident statistics were released, “376 people still lost their lives.” [Read more…]
Aviation International News is reporting that the FAA has subpoenaed the city of Santa Monica and issued a notice of investigation into the city’s efforts to evict the two main fuel providers at Santa Monica Airport.
“These actions may be causing, and appear intended to cause, impairment of the airport, including but not limited to, a de facto closure of the airport in violation of applicable law,” the agency told the city in a Sept. 26 notice of investigation (NOI), according to the report. Read the full report here.
ForeFlight and SiriusXM have introduced SiriusXM Aviation weather service on the newest version of ForeFlight Mobile. ForeFlight’s latest release (version 8.1) is now available on the iTunes App Store. [Read more…]
Aviation job website JSfirm.com, which powers the Job Search page at GeneralAviationNews.com, is now partnering with the University Aviation Association (UAA). Through this partnership, job seekers are now able to view the most recent aviation opportunities directly from UAA’s website. [Read more…]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) reports that Colleen Barrett, president emeritus of Southwest Airlines, has been selected as the recipient of the 2016 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. [Read more…]
The pilot/builder of the experimental amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped Pitts S1S had just completed a flight as part of phase one flight testing.
He reported an uneventful approach to landing at the airport in Sedona, Ariz., with the main landing gear touching down first.
However, as soon as the tailwheel made contact with the runway, the airplane yawed violently to the right. The pilot applied full left rudder and brake control input, but the plane did not respond, and departed the runway, descending down an embankment. [Read more…]
Glen Bradley recently sent in this photo of a Cessna 175. [Read more…]
It’s been said for many years the private pilot certificate is a license to learn.
The underlying intent of the statement holds that with a private pilot certificate we have the freedom to get out and fly, to gain experience, and through that experience we might become better pilots.
That was the idea, anyway. In actual practice, not all experience leads to beneficial instruction. [Read more…]
