A fuel-efficient idea by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Now that I have your attention, the concept of fuel efficient formation flight for airliners is one of four areas covered in the United Kingdom’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers recently released report on aviation that asks an interesting question—Aero 2075: Flying Into a Bright Future? Focusing [...]

Some functions come naturally to most humans, eating, sleeping, even defending ourselves … at least most of the time. But the message the House of Representatives just sent FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt with passage of the European Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011 is pretty clear. Our administrator needs to find a sparing partner [...]

At the August meeting about the AOPA Student Retention Initiative, a CFI in the audience suggested replacing a real airplane, the most expensive line of the flight training bill, with a simulator. Not totally, mind you, but enough to get students started, and to ease the natural anxiety arising with the noisy, demanding, distracting environment [...]

I have always felt I’d be doing my flight students a disservice not to mention that while soaring aloft is an unmatched experience, it can and will snuff out a life in a moment if the pilot becomes too complacent … no matter how sophisticated the aircraft’s on-board equipment. We’ve been reminded of the seriousness [...]

John Monnett has been dreaming about a homebuilt jet since the 1980s, so one can only imagine the barely controlled eagerness that filled him with the first flight of the SubSonex. And one can only imagine the internal debate between making that flight himself or turning it over to someone like, Bob Carleton, right, who [...]

Photoguy73 over southeastern Minnesota in 2008. Here in Wisconsin the maples are beginning their fall fashion season. Their shimmering coats in shades of reds and yellows blaze in the afternoon’s low, saturated light. It is a quiet refuge of peace in a world increasingly unable to give and take and coexist without hypocrisy and rancor. [...]

Everyone knows about the user fee battle. How could you not. Current attack aside, we’ve been in this fight on and off for years. The problem though is that when you hear  similar stories from a dozen different blogs, magazines, podcasts and Twitter feeds you become numb. That means thousands of aviation supporters are probably [...]