Debates about GA’s practicality are weighty, sometimes bitter, discussions I think often miss the point. But one of the best deals I ever found was “Hertz-like” plane rental at Lease-A-Plane. It opened up lots of possibilities. A big gripe of renters: The “daily minimum,” a minimum of flight hours to keep the plane all day. […]
Opinion
Positive reports continue out of Oshkosh
Reports continue positively for results at AirVenture 2011…despite FAA’s partial shutdown, a media frenzy over the debt ceiling, a roller coaster ride in the stock markets, and a continuing bum housing market. If you can smile after all that, things must be improving. Here’s more evidence of improvement: Icon Aircraft announced it secured 143 delivery […]
ExxonMobil departs general aviation
ExxonMobil quietly announced its departure from general aviation sales of 100LL and Jet-A in July. According to this AIN Online article, the company will end sales of the fuels to general aviation and dissolve its Avitat FBO network. As documented in this GAfuels article, 100LL sales have been dropping by some 4% annually for years, […]
Is another FAA shutdown looming?
The 21st temporary extension of authorization for the FAA expires Sept. 16 and another period of possible shutdown looms. Congress returns Tuesday, Sept. 6, after an August recess — and early indications suggest continued disagreements between the Senate and House of Representatives over authorization funding for the agency. President Obama and the Senate committee on […]
The mythical E10 mandate
Many people misunderstand what the country in general — and their state in particular — is required to do about ethanol in auto gasoline. First, let’s look at the BIG picture: There is no federal mandatory E10 law. Many people believe that there is, but it is not true. There are only six states with […]
Can’t see the forest for the trees
Last week I attended a webinar. The topic was Airport Compatible Land Use. Now, if you’ve never been to a webinar, you’re really missing something — at least in theory. Technology allows large numbers of us to get together and discuss a topic of common interest, without ever having to leave our homes or offices. […]
10-hour flight for EnergyOr UAV
MONTREAL — EnergyOr Technologies, a fuel cell energy developer, announced its fuel cell powered Faucon H2 UAV completed a 10-hour, 4-minute flight. From the press release, the Faucon H2 has a 3-meter (9.84 foot) wingspan, a 1.2-meter (3.93 foot) length and 9-kg (19.84 pound) mass and cruises at 65-100 km/h (40.38-62.13 mph). After reading the […]
Lake Tahoe Airshow pictures
LAKE TAHOE, California — Ed Rosiak, president of the California Pilots Association, attended Saturday’s (August 27) Lake Tahoe Airport‘s Airshow. Below are a few pictures from the ramp, and from Ed’s email to me, a few comments on the airport. “What is important to understand is that just a few years ago the South Lake […]
Avgas production lower than reported
While searching for recent usage stats for auto gas and ethanol production I stumbled across this table in the EIA data. I had never seen this table before when analyzing avgas stats. What an eye opener! The first thing that struck me as odd is that there is no avgas produced in PADD 1, which […]