There’s a 20-year-old solution to repetitive Presidential TFRs that damage so many general aviation airports.
GA Security
Opportunity to improve TSA regulations
By DAVE HOOK. Have you ever wished that you could change the regulations regarding aviation security? If so, now’s your chance. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seeking public comment on its regulations. Among the regulations eligible for comment are those found in 49 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter C, Civil Aviation Security. The specific […]
Keeping the skies safe as UAV testing begins
By DAVE HOOK. I’m not against UAVs. What I am against is fencing off parts of the sky from the flyers who were here first in the interest of UAV testing. I’m also not for rolling the dice with the lives of fellow aviators and their passengers. A central challenge for integrating UAVs into the […]
UAVs and sliced airspace
By DAVE HOOK. The time is approaching when manned aircraft will be sharing the skies with unmanned drones on a regular basis in the United States. Late last year the FAA named six UAV operators to test unmanned aircraft flying in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The testing sites and ranges have not been […]
New TSA regulation: Aircraft repair station security
By DAVE HOOK. Earlier this week the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published its final rule concerning security for aircraft repair stations. This final rule, which creates 49 CFR Part 1554—Aircraft Repair Station Security, deals specifically with FAA-certified Part 145 aircraft repair stations. Conspicuously missing from the final rule are many of the expensive unfunded […]
UAV eyes in the Open Sky
By DAVE HOOK. Do you like taking photos from your airplane? Most flyers do, even if it’s only every once in a while. You should be aware of a legislative slippery slope that’s developing. Unmanned aircraft are currently in the crosshairs of legislators at varying levels of government. At issue is the ability of UAVs to […]
Warrantless searches without consent: Now what?
By DAVE HOOK. Over the past month I’ve received more than 500 emails requesting I DO NOT CONSENT TO SEARCH stickers. The most common follow-on question I’ve received is: “If law enforcement doesn’t have a warrant to search my aircraft and I tell them that I do not consent to searches, but they search my […]
Independence Day and the Freedom to Fly
By DAVE HOOK. “We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.” Edward R. Murrow I want to thank the hundreds of flyers who took me up on my offer for the DO NOT CONSENT TO SEARCHES stickers. There are now thousands of those stickers affixed to their new homes, plying the national air […]
I do not consent to searches
By DAVE HOOK. When did American citizens give up Fourth Amendment rights just because they became pilots? Over the past year, there have been numerous reports of searches of private aircraft without warrants. The accounts described by the pilots also suggest that insufficient cause was given by the law enforcement agencies conducting the searches. This […]