By BILL WALKER, For General Aviation News Roland Gilliam’s dream was a familiar one for pilots: He wanted his own airport. In 1994, at age 54, he stopped dreaming and built 5NC3, Gilliam-McConnell Airfield at Carthage, N.C. Since then, his personal airport has developed into a business enterprise that will not stop growing. It all […]
Senate starts FAA reauthorization debate
After two years and 11 temporary extensions, the Senate has begun debating reauthorization of the FAA, calling for improvements in the air traffic management system. The bill, cosponsored by committee chairman Sens. John (Jay) Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), reauthorizes FAA’s four major accounts for two years, through fiscal year […]
Security takes center stage
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Many pilots and aircraft owners breathed a huge sigh of relief when President Obama’s budget for 2011 did not contain user fees, but none of the groups working Washington have let their guards down. Not only do user fees remain an issue, but security has raised its ugly head in the wake […]
Long before the Sebring LSA Expo…
Before Sebring, Florida, was known for auto racing and the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, thousands of young men swarmed to the airport at the bequest of Uncle Sam. From 1942 to 1946, the Army Air Corps used the field we know as Sebring Regional Airport (SEF) as a training facility for multi-engine bomber crews. At […]
Civil Air Patrol ramps up flood preparations
With another potentially massive flood looming in North Dakota’s Red River Valley and other Midwestern states, members of Civil Air Patrol’s North Central Region are standing ready. Melting snow from larger-than-normal amounts of snowfall this winter is expected to flood the Red River Valley in the weeks ahead. Forecasters predict it may be worse this […]
Former AOPA President John Baker dies
John Baker, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association after long-time head “Doc” Hartranft, died Thursday morning in Angier, N.C,. where he lived with his wife Kathy. Baker was president of AOPA from 1977 to 1991, just the second person to fill that position. Before taking over the top leadership post at AOPA, he […]
Flying with Grandpa
A little boy gets his first flight lesson from his Grandpa, as his Dad watches from the back seat. The YouTube video is put together by the Dad, who notes that his son is learning to fly on the same private strip where he learned to fly 23 years ago. The video includes a beautiful […]
WASP awarded Congressional Gold Medal
The first female military pilots received the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the Capitol March 10. Almost 70 years ago, the Women Airforce Service Pilots were disbanded with little fanfare, but this ceremony was a way to make things right for the trailblazers, said Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley. More than […]
Wire strike safety video released
The Helicopter Association International (HAI) has released a new, online aviation wire strike safety awareness video. “Surviving the Wires Environment” is posted as a streaming video on the HAI website and can be viewed for free by all. According to the FAA, wire and obstruction strikes are the top operational cause for fatal rotorcraft accidents. […]