Recently I’ve been reading a book by Malvern (Mal) Gross titled “Nine Lives – Adventures of a Lucky Pilot.” (See the first part of the review here.) Gross started his career as a CPA and during his many years he set world records in his Cessna 210, headed up a couple of national and international […]
Opinion
EPA orders studies on lead pollution around airports
As reported in the March 15, 2010 issue of AVWeb: The Environmental Protection Agency continues to go through administrative motions suggesting it’s serious about removing lead from avgas. Earlier this month, the agency sent a draft endangerment finding to the White House as part of its proposed action to address a petition from Friends of […]
Lean and powerful
I thought retirement would be different. I envisioned lunch dates on sunny days at small cafes. I could see the Old Man and I snuggled together on the couch on rainy or cold days, reading or just talking while sipping hot tea or coffee. I imagined romantic interludes. Not. If there were any interludes in […]
Book review creates flood of memories
Every now and then I get a call from the office and the conversation usually goes something like this: Ben: Hi dad, what’s going on? Me: Nothing much just watching the Olympics or working on some Rotary stuff but nothing critical … what have you got in mind? Ben: How about coming into the office. […]
FAA forecasts robust LSA growth…for a while
The FAA issued a 20-year forecast for aviation to 2030. According the the agency, Light Sport Aircraft sales will grow by 825 per year through 2013 and then taper off to 335 per year. Hmmm? One wonders why it should fall so dramatically and so soon? Except in a lousy 2009, the LSA industry has […]
Security takes center stage
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Many pilots and aircraft owners breathed a huge sigh of relief when President Obama’s budget for 2011 did not contain user fees, but none of the groups working Washington have let their guards down. Not only do user fees remain an issue, but security has raised its ugly head in the wake […]
Former AOPA President John Baker dies
John Baker, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association after long-time head “Doc” Hartranft, died Thursday morning in Angier, N.C,. where he lived with his wife Kathy. Baker was president of AOPA from 1977 to 1991, just the second person to fill that position. Before taking over the top leadership post at AOPA, he […]
Carpe Diem: A new mission statement
Winter Haven’s Gilbert Field (GIF) is located in the heart of central Florida. This part of the world is bathed in sunshine and warmth, and dotted with dozens of lakes custom made for fishing, boating, skiing, and seaplane flying. But there is another geographical benefit that has been lost on the administrators of this outstanding […]
General nominated to head TSA
A retired major general with 35 years experience in the intelligence community has been nominated by President Obama to head the Transportation Security Administration. He is Gen. Robert Harding, who retired in 2001 and, in 2003, founded Harding Security Associates, a company of more than 400 professionals providing security solutions to U.S. government agencies. At […]