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. The conversation turned to the TSA at my morning coffee gathering today. Pretty much everyone at the table flies for business or pleasure, at least occasionally. So it is […]
Opinion
Birds fly, men drink
In 1948, the local park was transferred to the U.S. Parks Service and became a national park, where today it provides an inspirational legacy for more than 600,000 visitors each year.
‘Washing’ ethanol out of mogas
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 and aviation journalist. The process of separating ethanol out of unleaded auto fuel is a much discussed topic […]
Whirring into the air on electricity
Dan Johnson, president of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, is an expert on Light Sport Aircraft. You’re probably aware of the auto industry’s billion-dollar bet on electric cars. Skeptics are plentiful. Same for airplanes. Despite doubts, even Cessna and Bye Energy are teaming up on an electric 172. Other LSA electric projects are also underway […]
Coming of age
Are Light-Sport Aircraft truly coming of age? I think so and, while I’m biased by my closeness to the industry, I have observed three noteworthy changes from summer to the recent AOPA Aviation Summit. Starting shortly before and at AirVenture, conversations with numerous established flight schools identified an impending purchase or two of LSAs to […]
Senators push for lame-duck passage of FAA reauthorization
The FAA might get reauthorization after all this year if two powerful senators of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation have their way during this lame-duck session of Congress. Senators John (Jay) Rockefeller (D.-W.Va.), chairman of the full committee, and Byron Dorgan (D.-N.D.), chairman of the aviation subcommittee, say the FAA has been without […]
FAA proposes photos on pilot certificates
The FAA wants your opinion on whether photos should be on pilot certificates. The FAA announced the proposal Thursday, Nov. 18, and set a deadline of Feb. 17, 2011, for submitting comments. Under the current proposal, a new pilot certificate would cost $22 and be valid for eight years. At the end of that time […]
Flight Service? It’s right there, next to Home Depot
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. On the fifth anniversary of contractor-operated FAA Flight Service, many commented on either program success or loss […]
A new age of business travel
Dennis Parks is Curator Emeritus of Seattle’s Museum of Flight. The period after the end of World War II saw a rapid growth in the use of corporate-owned aircraft for executive transportation. That need was fed mainly by conversions of small transports and high-speed wartime medium bombers, but in the early 1950s serious thought was […]