Regarding your Feb. 17 article “How innovation can save our airports” by Thomas F. Norton regarding the statement: “William T. Piper thought that every village in the United States should have an airport and, from the 1930s until his death in 1970, campaigned tirelessly and often successfully toward that end. Today it is Vern Raburn, […]
Opinion
More on the Sport Pilot Medical
In reply to Bob Mackey’s letter and the others which claimed I missed the point in my initial letter (Could medical kill Sport Pilot, Dec. 2, 2005, issue): You apparently didn’t read the original article (Pilots still frustrated by Sport Pilot medical, Oct. 21, 2005, issue). The intent of the original article was clearly to […]
Time for FAA to end all hope?
John “JT” Helms clarified his point very well and his concern for rising insurance premiums is mine as well. And I think we can agree that insuring Sport Pilot pilots is a can of worms that will sort itself out as a history of insurance claims develops. If John’s point of view is the basis […]
‘Black Cat’
Every picture has a story behind it and this one is no exception. In fact, it has more than one story. “”Black Cat”” by William Phillips is one of 10 paintings the artist did for the United States Postal Service for a series of stamps that depict “”American Advances in Aviation.”” A series of stamps […]
On ‘Chemtrail’ and other irrationalities, including NORAD’s
If you’ve never heard of chemtrails, don’t feel badly. I thought I’d heard most of the nutty notions affecting aviation, until a friend suggested running a Google search on chemtrails. Try it. You’ll be astonished by the concept, to begin with, and the enormous number of pages devoted to it. In sum, chemtrails enthusiasts say […]
Another Chicago airport will be a white elephant
I want to take issue with Charles Spence’s comments about the (perhaps) third Chicago Airport (Capital Comments, Jan. 6 issue). Jesse Jackson Jr.’s “Suburban Coalition” consists of ZERO communities in Will County, where the airport is planned. It does include some towns around O’Hare, who will do anything to keep O’Hare from expanding. The fact […]
Industry’s excitment about record sales tempered by spectre of user fees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the annual industry review meeting of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), companies reported a record year for dollar volume in 2005, a 20% growth in the number of piston airplanes delivered, a positive outlook for the future, and a determination to not allow user fees, proposed by the administration and […]
A quick course on patents
As an active pilot and patent attorney, I enjoyed reading “Texas pilot patents flying motorcycle,” in the Feb. 3, 2006, issue. The article explains that Larry Neal of The Butterfly LLC in Texas recently acquired a new patent to his “flying motorcycle.” After reading the article, I located Mr. Neal’s new patent on the Patent Office website: it’s […]
Good for the heart
There’s good news for pilots with heart conditions. The FAA recently announced that aviation medical examiners (AMEs) will be able to renew third class medical certificates issued under authorizations for nine heart conditions — myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary artery bypass, angioplasty, stent placement, tissue and mechanical valves replacements, atherectomy (removing plaque from an artery), […]