Without a confirmed head for more than a year and a half and after three trys, the Transportation Security Administration may soon have an administrator. On Thursday, June 17, the Senate Commerce Committee favorably reported John Pistole out of the committee to be TSA administrator and an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland […]
Opinion
The Perfect Pilot
Does the perfect pilot exist? If you ask most pilots, they’ll jokingly reply, “Sure, you’re looking at him.” But it’s no joke to Bill Rhodes, who is heading up the Airmanship Education Research Initiative (AERI). A retired Air Force officer, he specializes in professional ethics, having served as head of the philosophy department at the […]
FAA issues runway crossing clearance changes
Pilots operating at airports with air traffic control towers will get new phraseology to make taxi clearances clearer. Starting June 30, 2010, air traffic controllers will no longer use the term “taxi to” when authorizing aircraft to taxi to an assigned takeoff runway, according to FAA officials. With the change, controllers must issue explicit clearances […]
Kirk would be proud
Icon Aircraft’s Kirk Hawkins would be proud. While in a Tacoma-area Apple Store this past weekend to buy a graduation gift, I struck up a conversation with one of the store employees. When I told him I published General Aviation News, in response to his asking what I did for a living, he immediately asked, “Have […]
Crossing the line
LETTER TO THE EDITOR “If you cross the line, you’ve crossed the line” (FAA runway safety initiative launched). How true, but it more often occurs after landing and not completely clearing the runway. Just because your seat in the cockpit is across the hold short line doesn’t mean you are “clear of the runway.” I […]
One man’s passion
My hangar landlord has a passion. Not for women, money or fame, but I’d deduce his passion is just as ardent and just as satisfying as any of the aforementioned obsessions. Lloyd Thompson has a grand passion for Aeronca Champions, but not just any Champ. His favorite are the military versions, the L-16A and the […]
What do NextGen and the Gulf oil spill have in common?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consider the similarities between the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the FAA’s recent announcement setting requirements for ADS-B Out equipment to fly under the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen. In both cases, everybody hopes something will work but can’t be sure; expenses are gushing out; and all […]
When thumb twiddling makes sense
As anti-intuitive as it may seem, there are times when sitting back and twiddling your thumbs is the best course of action. At least for a little while. That’s certainly true when working to affect change at an airport. Government works slowly much of the time. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In many […]
TSA nominee says GA security needs studying
WASHINGTON, D.C. — General aviation will get more scrutiny but with an understanding that one size doesn’t fit all if John Pistole is confirmed as administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. This became clear as several senators asked questions about GA at his confirmation hearing June 10 before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Pistole […]