The FAA is expected to launch MedXPress, an online system that will allow pilots to electronically complete their applicant information on FAA Form 8500-8 before going to their AME’s office, sometime soon. Yet another effort to speed up the medical process, the system is designed to be as user friendly as possible. While initially slated […]
The FAA and LASIK surgery: Approval comes with many warnings
About 55% of the civilian pilots in the United States require some sort of vision correction to meet the FAA’s requirements for medical certification, according to the FAA. While glasses are the most common choice, a growing number of pilots are choosing laser refractive, or LASIK, surgery. The procedure alters the curvature of the cornea […]
Margery Taylor Ware, former WASP, dies
Margery Taylor Ware, who flew as a WASP during World War II, died Nov. 22 of renal failure at the age of 91. Ever a fighter, she stood up against sex discrimination, bigotry, poverty and violence all of her long life. Her father, an Episcopal minister, told her that to whom much is given, much […]
World War II bomber pilot Col Hector Santa Ana dies
Air Force Lt. Col. Hector Santa Ana flew 35 missions during a 17-week blitz over Germany during World War II and 127 Berlin Air Lift missions. He also taught hundreds of Air Force pilots to fly before his retirement. A long-time resident of Millersville, Maryland, he died Dec. 9 of pneumonia at Dover, Delaware. Santa […]
Lockheed graduates TSS specialists
Forty-six Flight Service Specialists recently graduated from Lockheed Martin’s Flight Service Academy in Prescott Valley, Ariz., including John Lockheed, great-grandson of company founder Allan Loughead. Each of the 46 will be assigned to a Flight Service Station operated by Lockheed Martin. Students at the Flight Service Academy undergo 10 weeks of stringent academic classes, according […]
Veterans Airlift Command makes first flight
The Veterans Airlift Command, a network of volunteer private pilots, flew its first mission in November, carrying an injured Marine from Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., to his home in Florida. Last June, while serving in Iraq, Cpl. Christopher Brink was injured in a bomb blast that killed two others. While still recovering from his […]
Nall Report shows jump in accidents
The AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s just-released 2006 Joseph T. Nall Report shows a jump in the total accident rate for GA pilots in 2005 to 7.2 per 100,000 hours of flight time, up from 6.5 in 2004. The rate for fatal accidents also increased slightly, rising to 1.4 per 100,000 hours, compared to 1.3 in […]
Sponsor-A-Rivet for Red Tail Project
It takes a lot money – and a lot of rivets — to rebuild a P-51 Mustang. The Red Tail Project, a Minnesota-based not-for-profit organization that is rebuilding a rare P-51 flown by the Tuskegee Airmen, has kicked off a new campaign to raise funds for the project. The campaign is called Sponsor-A-Rivet. For a […]
Union says FAA ban a danger to controllers, flying public
Air traffic controllers say a September decision by FAA officials to ban weather radios, commercial radios and cell phones from its ATC facilities placed air traffic controllers in danger in the control tower cab and radar room at Daytona Beach International Airport when a Christmas day tornado roared within 150 yards of the facility before […]