Does anyone dispute the need for paper charts for pilots? I hope not. Likewise, there can be no doubt about the rapid rise of digital chart usage. More and more general aviation pilots (and airlines and flight departments for that matter) are adopting “appified” navigation via [insert app here] on Apple’s iPad and a few […]
Opinion
Oil giant pulls out of 100LL business
UPDATE: Calls from AOPA and EAA Tuesday morning inform us Ben’s column is incorrect. Exxon-Mobil will continue the manufacture of unbranded 100LL fuel. Exxon-Mobil will discontinue branded fuel sales under the Exxon Avitat flag. We are awaiting confirmation from Exxon’s public relations people. I recently read that Exxon-Mobil stopped manufacturing and selling 100LL. (I tried […]
GA groups oppose latest LightSquared offer
LightSquared’s recent offer to give up a few frequencies does not satisfy the Global Positioning System and its users, including the airline industry and general aviation. LightSquared has offered to give up half the frequencies in the spectrum it wants to set up a nationwide broadband satellite-based network, if the FCC will let another organization […]
From student to mentor
This may not seem to be a column about politics, but it is. Because ultimately politics is the art of people interacting with other people in order to get something done. Based on that, flight instruction falls well within the realm of politics. And just like politics in the governmental sense, the politics of flight […]
Meigs Field: Still a pyrrhic sacrifice to ‘good intentions’
With last month’s passing of Maggie Daley, Chicago’s former first lady, from power, political blogger Greg Hinz reflected on stillborn plans to turn Meigs Field, the city’s former lakefront GA airport, into a major city park. Years later: Nothing – a typical fate for big government plans and ever more so now under today’s tight […]
FAA administrator resigns after DWI
Following his Dec. 3 arrest for driving while intoxicated (DWI), Randy Babbitt resigned as administrator of the FAA and his deputy has taken over as acting administrator. Michael Huerta is expected to remain in the post until after next year’s election to avoid any nomination squabbles prior to the election. When submitting his resignation Dec. […]
Mistakes will be made
Human beings have a propensity for making decisions that lead to less than desirable outcomes. Said another way, we’re pretty dumb sometimes. That’s not exactly shocking news, I know. But then something comes down the news wires about one of us doing something stupid, or more often, allegedly doing something stupid, and we get ourselves […]
FK Lightplanes earns SLSA #123: FK12 Comet
As they’ve done numerous times, Hansen Air Group — a team of dedicated pilots, nearly all of whom fly or formerly flew airliners for their day job — has helped shepherd another Light-Sport Aircraft through the ASTM standards process to get a FAA airworthiness certificate. The Altanta area importer has done this with several aircraft, […]
Florida to repeal ethanol mandate?
Your bloggers have reported this year on Florida’s ethanol mandates, which took effect in January of this year. As a consequence, Florida’s huge boating and sport aviation communities have suffered from a lack of ethanol-free fuel and all the known negative effects of ethanol blends. It seems that consumers have had enough and are prepared […]