I came to flying later than many. In part because I was sort of a hippie kid more attracted to the idea of playing guitar professionally than suiting up as a member of the military. And while those two paths might not seem mutually exclusive today, in the Viet Nam era they were often thought […]
Pilots
Fit to fly
By TOM DOUGLAS Seventeen minutes without a heartbeat set Jim Poling off in a new and life-fulfilling direction. “They say you can only survive 19 minutes with a shut-down heart, so it was a close call,” Jim related recently. “Even so, a stroke suffered on the operating table left me blind in one eye.” The […]
How does the price of fuel compare where you live?
In its latest newsletter, GlobalAir.com listed the average price for Jet A and 100LL across the country, highlighting the lowest prices in the nation: JetA Full Service – $2.15 Moore County Airport (KDUX) in Dumas Texas 100LL Self Serve – $2.79 Clarke County Airport (23M) in Quitman, Miss. They also included a map of average fuel prices […]
10 comments pilots are tired of hearing
GlobalAir.com blogger Tori Williams just posted “10 Comments Pilots are Tired of Hearing.” Some of those include: “You must be so rich!” “Will you fly me to Florida?” “You aren’t a real pilot until you fly tailwheel,” “I didn’t know women could fly!” and “I could never do what you do. Flying is SO unsafe.” Check out her […]
Three things no pilot wants to hear
By JEB BURNSIDE. Pilots have many popular sayings we share among ourselves and with others. They result from a desire to impress non-pilots with our “daredevil” spirit and how we “conquer” the mystique of flying, sprinkled with a certain fatalism. I’m thinking of things like, “The only time you can have too much fuel is […]
Flytenow asks Supreme Court to hear case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Goldwater Institute has asked the United States Supreme Court to hear its case against the FAA for shutting down Flytenow, a start-up business that uses the Internet to connect private pilots with passengers wishing to share flight expenses. Flytenow expands on “sharing economy” services that companies like Uber and Airbnb have […]
I’m a pilot, not an airman
The FAA should have titled the Practical Test Standards (PTS) replacement Pilot Certification Standards, not Airman Certification Standards (ACS). Regardless what you think of the new standards for awarding (or earning) a pilot — see there it is — certificate, the title is wrong. Never have I been asked, “Are you an airman?” And I’d hazard a […]
Flight school collaborates with charter company on pilot employment program
HILLSBORO, Ore. — Hillsboro Aero Academy has partnered with ACI Jet on a Pilot Pathway Program to provide a path to employment in the charter industry for Hillsboro Aero Academy’s qualified pilots. ACI Jet is a charter operator founded in 1998 with a fleet of 12 private jet aircraft and two corporate jet centers. The program includes […]
Reconsidering the CFI
I am a Certificated Flight Instructor. I’m proud of that fact. The CFI ticket is a highly sought after indication of capability that opens the door for many of us to our first professional gig as a pilot. It takes considerable study and focus to earn a CFI ticket, or the instrument instructor (CFII), or […]