If you had any doubts as to whether the FAA was going to mount a full-scale attempt to secure increased general aviation funding for the Next Generation Air Traffic Control system, let me make it very clear: they are in full attack mode. How do I know that? Probably the most obvious reason I came […]
Opinion
A CALL TO ARMS
During a recent Senate vote, the senator from Washington, Maria Cantwell, chose to vote with the airlines, and against the rest of aviation. It was a narrow vote — 11 to 12 — so her vote had a significant impact and could have easily turned the tide on this one. The battle is not over, […]
FSS CONTRACT: FIRST STEP TO USER FEES?
Everyone is up in arms about user fees. Where were you and others when the Flight Service System was being contracted out? That was the first step to to user fees. It seems no one wants to admit that, but all of you cannot be so blind as to see where this is all heading. After two […]
The numbers don’t add up: Airlines claim they pay 95% of ATC costs, but FAA numbers prove that’s false
The Air Transport Association (ATA), the trade association that represents the airlines, began running television advertisements in airports around the country, late in May. The ad deceptively attempts to mislead viewers into believing that commercial, passenger aircraft are backed up on runways because of congestion caused by small aircraft, that small aircraft somehow get preferential […]
COME VISIT ANYTIME
On behalf of the Board of Trustees for the Frank Phillips Foundation, the employees of Woolaroc and the thousands of guests and members of Woolaroc, I want to thank you for the wonderful article that you wrote in the April 20 issue about “Woolaroc” the airplane and Woolaroc the place (Woolaroc Museum and Ranch: The […]
LITTLE DIPPER
In reading the article on the Air Trooper in the March 23 issue of General Aviation News (The Littlest Warbird: Flying the Air Trooper), reference was made to the single-place airplane designed by John Thorp for Lockheed Aircraft during the Second World War. At the time Lockheed was still naming airplanes after celestial bodies and […]
What is the greatest airplane?
First, you have to define “”greatest;”” that is, the greatest airplane in what respect? Bomber, fighter, transport, general aviation or the greatest fun to fly? The greatest bomber has got to be the Boeing B-52. It’s been our first-line bomber for nearly 60 years and, with modifications and upgrades, it’s expected to be around for […]
SHAME ON YOU
Shame on you, Senator Maria Cantwell, for supporting FAA user fees. The last thing the general aviation industry needs is for Congress to allow airlines to dictate the funding of FAA operations. I hope you will correct your misguided decision if this bill ever comes to the floor. DAVID STAHL Gig Harbor, Wash.
WHY NO NATIONAL HOLIDAY TO HONOR CHARLES LINDBERGH?
I was a 4-year-old in 1927 when the greatest man of my generation, Charles Lindbergh, flew across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris. On May 20 and 21, we celebrated the 80th anniversary of that historic flight. No one person has ever achieved a greater accolade from Europe or America than this man […]