WASHINGTON, D.C. — Don’t look now, but Chicken Little is flapping around Washington shouting “The sky is falling. The sky is falling.” Or maybe it is the politicians running around shouting “safety” and “jobs” in every comment about the budget disagreement. Whatever position is taken on the budget, safety and jobs are used to justify […]
Opinion
A tough winter for ethanol
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. With ethanol production now accounting for 40% of the […]
Splash-In a welcome break from Sun ’n Fun aftermath
Drew Steketee was president of BE A PILOT, senior vp-communications for AOPA and executive director of the Partnership for Improved Air Travel. He also headed PR and media relations for Beech, GAMA and the Airport Operators Council International. Delayed by the same weather that ripped up Sun ‘n Fun, the Sun ’n Fun Splash-In at […]
General aviation fatalities continue downward
General aviation continued its downward trend of accidents and fatalities in 2010 while flying more hours than in 2009, according to statistics released by the National Transportation Safety Board. The 447 fatalities last year compared to 469 in 2009 and were almost half the number of 864 that occurred in 1992. Hours flown in 2010 […]
Redlands, California goes renegade – and it’s working
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. Roughly 65 miles to the east of Los Angeles is the mid-sized city of Redlands, California. With a […]
The flying bicycle
Dennis Parks is Curator Emeritus of Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Before they pioneered the airplane, inventors such as Orville and Wilbur Wright and Glenn Curtiss had another technical fascination: Bicycles. Both the Wrights and Curtiss serviced, designed and raced this new technological triumph at the end of the 19th Century. While they were all businessmen […]
Don’t be a one-trick pony
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. Bear with me for a minute. I’m going to use your imagination to help make a point. It’s […]
GA’s most effective advocate just might be you
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. If you want to make headway in the realm of politics, you need to have advocates working on […]
House passes FAA reauthorization despite Presidential Veto
Despite the threat of a veto by President Obama, the House of Representatives Friday, April 1, passed a reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration after 17 short-term extensions and it now goes to conference with a bill passed by the Senate in February. The measure was approved in the House by a vote of […]