Dear writers in General Aviation News dated April 7, 2006: Meg Godlewski’s cover (Cessna’s 172 Skyhawk at 50 Years Young) and Thomas F. Norton (Pioneers of Aviation): I found the article about the Cessna 172, known as the Skyhawk, to be either a little incomplete or a bit inaccurate because according to “The Legend of […]
Opinion
A simple fix
To Charles Spence, Capital Comments: I read with interest your ongoing articles concerning user fees. Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems to me that Congress is trying to fix something that’s not broken.If the FAA indeed needs more operating capital, why not very simply add a few cents to each gallon of fuel […]
It’s Sprint… and a fine day to fly
Standing in front of our hangar, I can see the whole world — or at least my little portion of it. As late afternoon gives way to early evening, it is a good place to be. The March sun is bold, portending the summer yet to come. But instead of wearying heat, her warmth is […]
‘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 […]
FAA officials use growth in number of airline flights to tout user fees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — General aviation flight hours are expected to grow at a rate of 3.2% a year for the next 10 years Meanwhile, airline passenger count is forecast to grow at a rate of 3% a year, but there will be more flights with air carriers using smaller regional airplanes with lower ticket costs. […]
What about AOPA’s Boyer
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, […]
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 […]