Washington, D.C. — The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to change pilot licensing certification should bring welcome changes and, perhaps, some unwelcome rules. Some are changes needed to bring aviation up to date. The trouble is, the changes are about 40 years late. In the 1960s, the Utility Airplane Council, predecessor of the […]
Opinion
Proposed Hudson River changes might be used in other places
Pending changes in flight operations in the Hudson River airspace — where a collision between an airplane and a helicopter took place last month — might have national applications, according to the FAA’s senior vice president for operations, air traffic organization. Testifying to a Senate committee, Rick Day said the agency will analyze the effectiveness […]
Meg flies a Mustang
When someone offers you the chance to fly in a P-51 Mustang, you do not pass it up. I recently flew “Betty Jane,” a rare two-place P-51 that is making its way around the country on the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour. The foundation also has its B-17, “Nine-oh-Nine,” and the B-24 “Witchcraft” making […]
Flight & Flyers: Luckey flyer
William Luckey, a test pilot and exhibition aviator for the Curtiss Company, came to aviation late in life. Best known as the winner of The New York Times race around Manhattan Island on Oct. 13, 1913, Luckey was nearing 50 when he took an interest in aviation in 1912. Just a year later, he won […]
A full plate for Congress
Back at work after spending August hearing from constituents in so-called town hall meetings, Congress returned to Washington to find it has much to do. Health care issues, with several bills — each more than 1,000 pages long — will hold the primary focus. However, other issues need action. As of the day after Labor […]
LSAs reach #100
The Light Sport Aircraft industry has reached a milestone, reaching Special-LSA #100 in less than five years. According to LSA expert (and GAN columnist) Dan Johnson, the 100th LSA is Van’s RV-12. It received its approval July 21, one day after the fifth anniversary of the new rule announcement (July 20, 2004). Johnson, who is […]
Ex-FBI agent nominated to head TSA
On the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Obama announced his intention to nominate a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent with airport police security experience to be the new head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a moved met with pledges of cooperation from general aviation interests. Erroll Southers currently serves […]
Who should pay?
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: I recently completed my Experimental amateur homebuilt aircraft and was ready to have the Certification Inspection completed. I contacted my local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) and requested to have one of the maintenance inspectors perform the inspection. The manager denied the request. I requested a written explanation for the denial, […]
Strong survive tough economy
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON We continue to see the effects of the last year of economic turmoil in LSA market shares. An updated ranking of market share shows the top 20 (of 70 total) producers still represent almost 90% of total SLSA registrations. (For the record: Registrations on the FAA’s database are not the same […]