Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. He is also a founding partner and regular contributor to FlightMonkeys.com. It seems like an obvious axiom of business. When opportunity knocks, answer the door, say “Hello,” invite it […]
Opinion
The year of the ELSA?
Dan Johnson, president of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, is an expert on Light Sport Aircraft. One of the “diamonds in the rough” of the LSA movement has been the kit LSA or Experimental LSA or simply ELSA. For the first five years of Light-Sport Aircraft, fully manufactured Special Light-Sport Aircraft dominated the sales figures. […]
GA responds to Japanese disasters
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) immediately went to work providing information on its website informing members how they can meet the severe logistical challenges of moving their personnel and equipment out of the ravaged nation. The website carries as much current information that […]
FAA launches GA safety improvement plan
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FAA will undertake a new program to raise interest in general aviation safety with the central elements being to gather more information on causes of accidents, conduct meetings on the subject throughout the country, and zero in on where accident rates are higher than the norm. The goal is to reduce the rate […]
In search of the illusive octane
The GAfuels Blog is written by two private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft: Dean Billing, Sisters, Ore., an expert on autogas and ethanol, and Kent Misegades, Cary, N.C., an aerospace engineer, aviation sales rep for U-Fuel, and president of EAA1114. By Dean Billing, director, Aviation Fuel Club First, let […]
Internet forum sets off rant
Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia. I was going to write about something pleasant this month but a comment, casually stated as fact on an Internet forum, really cooked my goose and has become the basis […]
Over-the-top FAA oversight
I was reading Charlie Spence’s Capital Comments column recently and I became intrigued by the numbers he was quoting from the FAA’s annual forecast. This annual study, which predicts aviation activities over the next 20 years, is used by the FAA to plan for the effects of expected growth. The forecast predicted a rate of […]
Jet-A versus Diesel fuel
Nobody has ever claimed using Jet-A in a diesel engine wouldn’t work, not even Exxon.
FAA issues interim RTTF policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New requirements were unveiled Thursday, March 17, by the FAA for residential through-the-fence (RTTF) access agreements at federally-funded airports. An interim policy requires airport sponsors with existing agreements that wish to continue RTTF to develop an airport access plan that outlines how the airport will meet its obligations to operate as a […]