We often encourage activist pilots and airport advocates to engage the media and community leaders, including by flying them. For two-plus decades, that was part of my job. I had a few ironclad principles for this. A potential disaster with Ralph Nader’s consumer organization dramatized why! This month’s passing of Nader’s long-time publisher and collaborator […]
Opinion
FAA reports on drones and NextGen
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA has made some strides in moving towards modernization, but is behind schedule and not fully geared for some other important issues, a Congressional committee discovered Wednesday, Feb. 5, in a hearing designed to check on the FAA’s progress in the two years since reauthorization. Rep. Frank LeBiondo, chairman of the […]
The elephant in the room
Superbowl Sunday was anything but super. Not only was the game a huge disappointment to anyone who enjoys competitive sports, but earlier in the day news broke that Philip Seymour Hoffman had been found dead in his Greenwich Village apartment. Aviation shares something in common with sports and show business, whether we choose to believe […]
Moving on…
I’ve always wanted to write, and when I graduated from high school, I had every intention of attending my local college and pursuing the possibilities. But on orientation day, for whatever reason, I didn’t go. Instead, I applied for a job and started working with a young man who would give me my first airplane […]
Searching for that last straw
Long, long ago I was fortunate enough to hear a joke that’s stuck with me for all these years. What I hadn’t anticipated was that a single joke would help inform my political sensibilities forevermore. That’s right, a joke has become a guiding light to my method of dealing with others. Emo Philips, the comedian, […]
UAVs and sliced airspace
By DAVE HOOK. The time is approaching when manned aircraft will be sharing the skies with unmanned drones on a regular basis in the United States. Late last year the FAA named six UAV operators to test unmanned aircraft flying in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The testing sites and ranges have not been […]
What’s your story?
We tell stories. In 2014 we want to tell your story. This year, we will dive deeper into fewer subject. Don’t worry, we’ll still deliver the news and information you read General Aviation News for. But there are a few topics we want to expand, and need your help. January was DESTINATIONS. We included a […]
GA’s ‘Voice in the Newspaper’ turns 90
Today, a mailbox in Warren, New Jersey, should be overflowing with birthday cards and good wishes. The occasion? It’s the 90th birthday of Jack Elliott, longtime aviation columnist for The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger. Longevity did not win this praise; it was Jack Elliott’s storytelling and his “human interest” focus on people who fly. Elliott’s Sunday […]
Blog: ‘A Starship in the Wild’ conjures up wonderful memory
Ron Rapp is a pilot and blogger. His blog is called The House of Rapp and his Jan. 20 post, A Starship in the Wild ,conjured up a wonderful memory. While in line to depart Vail, Colorado’s Aspen Eagle Airport, Ron saw a Beechcraft Starship. Not many were built, and far fewer are flying still today. To […]