At the lightest end of flying, one company in the USA excels like no other. For hang glider and paraglider enthusiasts the brand name Wills Wing is as good as it gets. I have long known and admired the owners of this well-run California company so I am very pleased to offer my congratulations to […]
Opinion
Rhetoric against GA continues
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Money continues to be the topic dominating the conversations and actions here as the President, Congress, and businesses, including aviation groups, face a series of challenges. The federal debt is passing $16.5 trillion and increasing at the rate of $3.2 million a day. The President wants more taxes to slow it. That’s […]
Sunset for avgas?
In recent months your bloggers have been contacted by a number of environmental reporters on the issue of leaded aviation fuel, for instance Sarah Zhang of Mother Jones, mentioned in this Jan. 28 posting. More recently, Rebecca Kessler, a science and environmental journalist based in Providence, R.I., published an article titled “Sunset for Leaded Aviation […]
Sebring Expo: A real game-changer
It used to be that January was one of the slowest months of the year. Freezing cold in the northern states combined with short days across the northern hemisphere to produce a sluggish month for all but transport or working aircraft. Recreational flying slowed to the pace of thick syrup pouring from a chilled bottle. […]
A newbie’s plans for joining the club
Regular readers of this blog know I make no secret of my affection for flying clubs. My devotion to the concept is based on the wealth of opportunity these clubs can offer. In a nutshell, my thinking goes like this: If there is a better method of cutting the cost of flying, establishing a long-lasting […]
Ask Paul: Why is my Beagle Pup such a pig to start?
Q: I have a Beagle Pup 150 (the father of the Scottish Aviation Bull Dog) fitted with a Lycoming O-320 engine. When the weather is cold — in the UK this is anything less than 5° C — it has become an absolute pig to start, but once started it runs perfectly. The engine is […]
The post-war bubble
On May 17, 1945, with the war in Europe ending and military production being cut back, the War Production Board announced the end of the prohibition on the production of civilian aircraft, providing such manufacturing didn’t interfere with war output. Aviation magazines and the mainstream press jumped on the news of the post-war aviation potential. […]
Innospec news — a shot across the bow?
Early last week my inbox starting filling with breathless news that Innospec, the world’s last producer of Tetraethyllead (TEL), the amazing chemical compound that gives avgas such excellent anti-detonant properties, is planning to end production in 2013. Worse yet, according to an online article in Specialty Chemical News, the company had actually planned to stop […]
Lessons from the NFL
A few days before the Seattle Seahawks played the Washington Redskins in the Wild Card round of the National Football League playoffs, General Aviation News columnist, and nearly Washington D.C. resident Charles Spence emailed me to poke a little fun about the upcoming game. I took the comments to Facebook for broader discussion and we […]