WASHINGTON, D.C. — “”My intention is to give it a decent burial.”” With those words, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) closed his opening comments at a House Subcommittee hearing into reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. Oberstar’s comment referred to the administration’s, FAA’s, and airline industry’s efforts to establish user fees for general aviation. The House […]
Opinion
Can we convert from dual mag drive to separate drives?
Can we convert a Lycoming O-540-J3A5D from dual mag drive to separate drives? Can it be done on a 1980 Dakota 236? Our club, The Flying 20 Club of Danbury, Conn., has three planes, a Dakota and two Archers. Recently,during the overhaul of one of our Archers, N8198P, we had the plane equipped with the […]
DO YOU KNOW THE NAME OF PAUL REVERE’S HORSE?
Re: Tom Norton’s article on Charles L. Lawrance, (Paul Revere’s horse: Charlie Lawrance and his engine that changed aviation, Jan. 19 issue), the name of Paul Revere’s horse was Brown Beauty. I know this because I was once asked in my capacity as executive director of the Lexington, Mass., Historical Society. A gentleman from New […]
YOU DON’T WANT TO FLY FOR THE AIRLINES?
Nice article by Meg Godlewski in the Feb. 2 issue titled “What’s your motivation?” I was a 20-year Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk pilot and I loved every minute of it, including Vietnam. When I retired in 1990, I went looking for a second career. Every time I found a flying opportunity, I saw it as […]
User fees: it’s time to get into this fight
If you don’t think user fees are the most serious among current threats to general aviation, listen to Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo). His wry comment was that the plan would give us the “safer skies” the airlines keep talking about, but only “because it would rid the skies of general aviation aircraft.” I agree. Graves […]
What will Congress do about use fees? First hearing setsbattle lines between GA and airlines
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Opening salvos in the FAA reauthorization/user fee battle were fired March 8 in the Senate Aviation Subcommittee and it quickly became clear the coming months will see aggressive actions by all sides in the controversy. This first hearing brought out the expected supporters and opponents of the administration’s proposals, plus a few […]
AIRPORTS BEWARE
Remember the relief we felt within the aviation community back in 1998 when the state of Washington passed a law requiring all communities to develop zones to protect airports from encroachment by incompatible development? Here is a big red flag, folks. You had better check what your local governments have done, because we found that […]
Confusion abounds on difference in rocker arms
I’m confused about the rocker arm differences on the O-360-A4K parallel valve cylinders because I know about the extreme heat that the exhaust valves endure. My question is why does the intake rocker arm #69444 have the extra oil hole that leads to the intake valve shaft to cool and lubricate it while the exhaust […]
LEGAL DEFENSE FUND CREATED FOR CFI
This is the case of a flight instructor, Paul Preziose, who is being sued by the owner of an Oregon skydiving operation. Over a long period of time, Mr. Preziose observed a pattern of rule infractions and threats to safety at the Hobby Field Airport in Creswell from the operations of the skydivers. Mr. Preziose […]