Errors by air traffic controllers increased a record 51% this past fiscal year, according to a report in The Washington Post. The newspaper said this increase represents only a portion of the errors, as not all mistakes are recorded. For three years the FAA has encouraged controllers to voluntarily report errors and be shielded from […]
Opinion
A puzzling compression problem
Paul McBride, an expert on engines, retired after almost 40 years with Lycoming. Q: My engine, which now has 300 hours on it, is an O-290-D2B which had a new-limits field overhaul. It has settled-in as a nice smooth-running, economical and reliable powerplant with plenty of power. It gets about 7-8 hours per qt. (Aeroshell […]
Boaters unite to oppose ethanol; where are aviation’s leaders?
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. As word of the EPA’s approval last week of E15 spreads across America, those who […]
Change is constant, progress is not
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. You can reach him at [email protected]. The suggestion that aviation has changed over the past several decades will surprise no one. It obviously has. However, the disparity between the […]
‘Sitting on our assets’
A Congressional committee that oversees the Department of Transportation says billions of dollars of taxpayer money can be saved by making a few changes. In a report titled “Sitting on our Assets,” Republican members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee cite areas where there is the potential for savings of a quarter of a […]
Europe delays action on “Third Country” regulations
The European Union Commission (EUC) decided in a closed-door meeting to delay action on the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) recommendations to restrict acceptance of pilot and aircraft certificates issued by third countries. This gives persons living in Europe but operating on certificates issued by other countries, including the FAA, at least three more months […]
Runway incursions down
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over recent years, the FAA has been actively working to reduce the number of serious runway incursions — and that work has paid off. In fiscal year 2010, runway incursions dropped 50% from 2009, the second year in a row this type of potential accident was cut in half. Serious runway incursions […]
A lot at stake for GA in mid-term elections
WASHINGTON, D.C. — General aviation has a big stake in the outcome of the coming mid-term elections, both at the federal and state levels. At the federal level a full reauthorization of the FAA might hang on whether Democrats continue to control both houses of Congress or whether there is a lame duck session with […]
A novel approach
Dennis Parks is Curator Emeritus of Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Starting in 1908 and 1909, aviation began to have an impact on the public conscience and imagination, evidenced by its appearance in popular culture of the day, including music, books and films. Tens of thousands of people saw the Wrights fly at Ft. Myer in […]