The Transportation Security Administration has been without an administrator for more than a year, but perhaps the third attempt to fill the post will be the charm as President Obama announced his intention to nominate FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole to head that section of Homeland Security. Pistole has been with the FBI since […]
Opinion
More on the Death of Common Sense
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Re: The Death of Common Sense: Common sense has been driven out of most airports, but it does still exist here in the boondocks. If the runways are grass — or dirt — and the aircraft do not have radios, or they are not used too much, and the pilots cannot […]
As the Luscombe turns
The past several weeks have brought some great flying weather to northern Georgia, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to take advantage of those precious flying days. Henry’s mom or “Granny,” as she is known in our house, has taken a turn for the worse. It’s gardening season, and I know the last place she […]
In celebration of lunch at the airport
To be honest, I am not particularly fond of participating in business lunches. My method is to either work, or eat, but not to do both simultaneously. But even I can violate a personal rule now and then. So I convinced myself that the no-working-lunch thing was more of a guideline than a rule, and […]
Flying in Alaska
I regularly attend aviation events all over the country and have been doing so for around 40 years. I always enjoy seeing the numbers and variety of aircraft at these events, whether the event is primarily for sport aviation enthusiasts or features high-end business aircraft. Oshkosh and Sun ‘n Fun always amaze me by the […]
Sharing information helps GA airports
Airports often face similar problems relating to safety and security but don’t know how others have resolved these problems or where to get specifics on the subject. Recognizing this, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) has a continuing project to gather information from many general aviation airports and share it with all airports to enable faster […]
What’s holding up FAA reauthorization?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House and Senate once again are trying to resolve sticky issues to pass a FAA reauthorization bill before the latest extension expires on July 3. Staffs from both sides of the hill continue to meet, with much going on behind the scenes. Several issues remain to be settled, but the biggest […]
Sporty’s course update impressive
I just watched the Advanced IFR DVD from the Sporty’s Instrument Rating Course. The quality of the video and interactivity made me wish this series had been around, in this format, when I was in flight training back in the, gulp, late 1980s. This isn’t a typical “ground school” video. Its use of high-end graphics […]
Flying on tandem wings
Among early design considerations were the layout, location and configuration of wings. Several early concepts included that of the tandem wing, including Langley’s first successful powered aircraft in 1896 (pictured, below). A tandem wing aircraft implies use of two full-sized wings mounted on each end of the fuselage. It might be considered a biplane with […]