Usually, when a school is built next to an airport, school officials express concerns about the proximity of airplanes to the classrooms. At Tradewind Elementary School in Amarillo, Texas, Principal Kim Bentley couldn’t be more excited about the location. The new school is being built next door to Tradewind Airport (TDW) and Bentley, who is […]
News
Christmas day tornado rips through Embry-Riddle
Recovery efforts are still ongoing following a Christmas day tornado that caused extensive damage to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus. There is substantial damage to several buildings on the campus, including Spruance Hall, which houses administrative offices, and the Student Center. The university’s maintenance hangar was destroyed when the tornado cut a 100-foot-wide […]
Rare Norseman makes its airshow debut
“It’s big.” “It’s beautiful!” “What is it?” These are just some of the comments visitors at EAA AirVenture 2006 made when they approached the Norseman UC-64A owned by Forrest Klies from Basin, Montana. The gold and maroon high-wing beauty was parked in the vintage aircraft area amid the rows of Stinsons and Stearmans. The aircraft […]
Union says FAA ban a danger to controllers, flying public
Air traffic controllers say a September decision by FAA officials to ban weather radios, commercial radios and cell phones from its ATC facilities placed air traffic controllers in danger in the control tower cab and radar room at Daytona Beach International Airport when a Christmas day tornado roared within 150 yards of the facility before […]
Got O2?: Do you need oxygen when you fly?
If you ask private pilots when they should start using supplemental oxygen during a flight, most of them will parrot back the verbiage that appears in the FAR AIM under regulation 91.211: “After 30 minutes if you go above 12,500 feet MSL.” The regulation actually reads: “No person may operate a civil aircraft of U.S. […]
Sponsor-A-Rivet for Red Tail Project
It takes a lot money – and a lot of rivets — to rebuild a P-51 Mustang. The Red Tail Project, a Minnesota-based not-for-profit organization that is rebuilding a rare P-51 flown by the Tuskegee Airmen, has kicked off a new campaign to raise funds for the project. The campaign is called Sponsor-A-Rivet. For a […]
Your medical: How can you make the system work for you? Some advice and tips from OKC’s top man
Aviation Medical Examiners, like any other type of medical specialist, are very different. There are some who, when confronted with a pilot who doesn’t have a perfect health history, will walk over to a phone, call a doctor at the Aerospace Medical Certification Division in Oklahoma City and get approval for that pilot right there […]
Nall Report shows jump in accidents
The AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s just-released 2006 Joseph T. Nall Report shows a jump in the total accident rate for GA pilots in 2005 to 7.2 per 100,000 hours of flight time, up from 6.5 in 2004. The rate for fatal accidents also increased slightly, rising to 1.4 per 100,000 hours, compared to 1.3 in […]
WHAT ARE THE DISQUALIFYING CONDITIONS?
Certain medical conditions are considered disqualifying for pilots. But if those conditions are “adequately controlled,” the FAA will issue a medical certification contingent on periodic reports. Those conditions are: • Angina pectoris • Bipolar disease • Cardiac valve replacement • Coronary heart disease that has been treated or, if untreated, that has been symptomatic or […]