Blog Posts

After seeing its inaugural (public) flight at EAA AirVenture 2008, I’ve been following the the development of the Martin Jetpack. Beyond the sci fi coolness of the Kiwi project, a few questions came to mind, like what happens when the engine f…

It’s been an exciting few weeks in the search for Air France 447. In just 20 days or so, searchers located the fuselage and both the cockpit and flight data recorders in 13,000 ft. of water on the floor of the South Atlantic. More victims are …

In the last century, fly-in were about flying. Unlike today’s events, which cater to passive participants there to shop and watch other people fly, the pilots who flew in honed their skills by competing in takeoff and landing contests, flour b…

The message from the White House came and went so quickly last week that some people thought it was actually a mistake. But like the ghosts in A Christmas Carol, the release of a draft of The Transportation Opportunities Act (TOA), actually did happ…

Going on a backcountry safari to explore the airstrips long ago hacked out of what became the the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Areas ranks second on my all-time list of best aviation experiences. (First was flying…

First there was fabric over wood and/or metal frameworks. Then were was metal over metal, which led to monocoque construction. Eventually,  composite materials followed suit, complete with a subcutaneous layer of acoustic foam to keep things quiet. …

There is some good news to report as we approach the two year anniversary of the the Air France 447 accident in the South Atlantic during the late evening hours of May 31, 2009. An unmanned submarine exploration team headed by the Woods Hole Oceanog…

Air traffic control has been under the magnifying glass of late, with most recent incident being the loss of separation between Michelle Obama’s C-40 (Boeing 737) and a C-17 cargo plane. I’m puzzled. Numerous reports, including the story…

This probably isn’t going to come as a great shock to most Jetwhine readers, but air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job is not a new problem. Getting caught falling asleep certainly seems to be though. Controllers are just people th…

Mention the Next Generational Air Transportation System to pilots and the first thing that comes to mind is money and the pain resulting from complex changes. If you’re a GA flyer, add unkind words for the airlines, the primary beneficiary of …

Feedback, information on what students have done correctly, where they need work, and how to make the necessary improvements, is key to any educational program. Its quality and value depends on a flight instructor’s ability to immediately meas…

Department of TransportationWashington, DCReally nice to hear from you again and yes, the family are all doing fine, thanks for asking. I forgot to ask you in my last letter how that new government job is working out. DOT Secretary … prett…

At every level and every altitude, the world today is an unhappy place growing ever more turgid and lethal. Keeping current with local, state, national, and world events can inspire hope’s suicide. If there is a hotline holding promise of some…

By now, everyone knows that a controller at National Airport Tower in Washington fell asleep on duty last week during the midnight shift. The fact that this was a supervisor up there by himself always gives the National Air Traffic Controllers Assoc…

The notices arrived in my in-box almost hand in hand.  Analyzing the previous year’s data, the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Joseph T. Nall Report for 2010 gives the good and bad news about general aviation accidents. And the  2011 Safety…

Let’s be serious. When we fly on the airlines, we’re a captive audience. They can do pretty much whatever they’d like to us and we have to put up with it. But most of the time we also fly on the airlines because we must … for…

Upon reading  the National Association of Flight Instructors’ report on how a recent change in the FAA knowledge test question banks had increased the number of failures, my initial reaction sided with the FAA. Let me explain: When I was with …

Every time I hear someone use the words general aviation and China in the same sentence, I can’t help but think back a few years ago to the early days of the Cessna 162 Skycatcher.Remember the bombshell announcement, when Cessna told the wor…

Using FAA data provided by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s annual Statistical Databook, I’ve built a spreadsheet of pilot population data back to 1964. Updating it for 2010 revealed a new highpoint in pilot certification…

A number of Republican governors have been pegging the media’s popularity meters the past few weeks with talk of pouncing on the collective bargaining rights of public service employees, one of the last havens of solid unionism left in Americ…

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association annual Statistical Databook & Industry Outlook is like a late Christmas present that puts all other gifts or lumps of coal into a broader context.  The first edition, published in 1973, ran just 22 …

At every level, and in every corner, it seems that the world is a universally unhappy place, and has been for awhile. Citing political mandates, and mindless of immediate or future consequences, oligarchs are strenuously exercising their financial h…

Flight instructor pay and benefits are an integral component in creating a flight school faculty that reliably provides an education consistent with the investment made by the students they serve. Unfortunately, flight training is at the bitter end …

Regular Jetwhine readers know that a story posted here relating to the FAA is not unusual, nor is the fact that I tend not to be terribly supportive of some of the people who work there. Regular readers should know that I try — note the word try — …