Dennis Parks is Curator Emeritus of Seattle’s Museum of Flight. When Wilbur Wright arrived in France May 29, 1908, to carry out demonstrations for a French syndicate interested in building Wright Flyers, it would be the first time one of the Wright brothers flew outside of America. Wilbur not only faced the challenge of flying […]
Opinion
Sharing your two cents
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 also is an owner and contributor to FlightMonkeys.com. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that’s as consistently dull and lifeless as a public meeting when only […]
HOVA’s in the house
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. A curious thing happened when I stopped into my local FBO this past weekend. As I wandered past […]
Top Democrat fights FAA bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bill to reauthorize the FAA has passed the House of Representatives, but the ranking Democrat on the aviation subcommittee continues to fight against it. This time, Congressman Jerry Costello has called on the National Transportation Safety Board for help. Costello wrote to NTSB officials, asking them for an opinion on a […]
What’s behind media frenzy over controller errors?
What brought about the heavy media coverage of the errors by air traffic controllers? Print and electronic media made this their lead articles for days. Members of Congress demanded answers from the FAA and Department of Transportation. The top manager of air traffic at the FAA “resigned” and at least two controllers have been discharged. […]
Damn tornadoes
But the damage brings out the best in people Tornadoes take on many forms, and are different beasts to different people. At the recent Sun ’n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., the tornado was called an EF1. If you are John Burton, president of Sun ’n Fun, the tornado that hit LAL on March 31 […]
LSA companies expanding in two directions
New models range from single seaters to four-place planes Dan Johnson, president of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, is an expert on Light Sport Aircraft. An amazing thing happened on the way to AERO 2011, Europe’s very popular show in the south of Germany. Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) companies — a large and growing flock of […]
Lack of sleep = bad decisions
Meg Godlewski is GAN’s staff reporter and a Master CFI. Americans are sleep deprived. We work too much. We watch too much television. We spend too much time playing computer games and engaging in social media. It cuts into the time we allot for sleep. And we pay for it. Lately, control tower operators who […]
More LSAs powered by Lycoming
Dan Johnson, president of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, is an expert on Light Sport Aircraft. While the Continental O-200 engine — used in several LSA — attains Chinese ownership, Lycoming appears to be making a stronger push to enlist LSA manufacturers. One example at AERO 2011 was the upgraded Tecnam Eaglet, which airshow visitors […]