The FAA has called the City of Santa Monica on the carpet for applying landing fees to business jets utilizing the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The fees, which have been controversial since they went into effect in August 2003, apply only to aircraft with a maximum structural landing weight of more than 10,000 pounds. […]
Forcing the little guy out?
One man’s development is another man’s grounds for objection. A $30 million redevelopment project at McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ) in San Diego is under way, but the dozens of pilots displaced by the project have not dropped their complaint alleging that the development is designed to push general aviation interests off the field. Last September, pilots […]
Javelin jet maker attracts some big names to the executive payroll
When you spend a lifetime in one industry, it can be very difficult to retire. It certainly was for Horst Bergmann, who spent approximately 40 years at Jeppesen. He’s now capping off his career at Aviation Technology Group, Inc. (ATG), developers of the Javelin Executive Jet. Bergmann joined Jeppesen in 1963, right after he finished […]
American Lake seaplane base faces closure
The Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation Division and the Seaplane Pilots Association are trying to persuade city officials in Lakewood, Washington, to keep the seaplane base at American Lake open. The city notified the state of its intent to close the base last month. The owners of the handful of aircraft kept at the […]
New development, including 1,400 homes, slated near Long Beach Airport
Pilots will tell you that, with the exception of airparks, housing developments and airports are a poor combination. That didn’t stop the city of Long Beach, California, from giving the nod to a 260-acre development adjacent to Long Beach/Daughtery Field (LGB). The Douglas Park project, as it is known, has been several years in the […]
Washington’s Air Station Museum closed
City officials in Arlington, Wash., have locked the doors of the Air Station Flying Museum at the Arlington Airport because the nonprofit group operating the museum is behind in its rent and has failed to meet performance requirements in its lease. “They were supposed to make improvements to the World War II era buildings, such […]
North Carolina airport woos GA with new hangars
Aircraft won’t be the only thing taking off at Albert J. Ellis Airport (OAJ) in Jacksonville, North Carolina, this spring. Airport officials say they’re almost finished with the infrastructure work that will support new general aviation hangars. “The hangars will be built by corporations or private individuals, we’re just putting in the infrastructure,” explains airport […]
Are laser pointers our newest threat
Years ago children at summer camp were cautioned never to shine their flashlights straight up because it could blind pilots flying overhead and cause them to crash. These days pilot blindness is a very real possibility because of the misuse of laser pointers. In recent weeks there have been a number of incidents where people […]
California’s Corona Airport dries out, but remains closed after the flood
The torrential rains that pelted southern California the second week of January turned Corona Municipal Airport (AJO) near Los Angeles into a lake. While those waters have receded, the airport remains closed indefinitely. As early as Sunday, Jan. 9, airport tenants and business owners began to move their belongings to higher ground. One of those […]