Blog Posts

Years ago in another life, I was a VFR tower controller at a number of then really busy airports, Chicago Palwaukee (now Chicago Executive), Chicago DuPage, Chicago Meigs and Miami Opa-Locka. As a pilot and a newly minted flight instructor, I alw…

At Kent State University in Ohio, students hoping for a career in two failing industries–aviation and publishing–have joined forces to improve the future of both by starting an online aviation magazine. Its tag line, “Grass Roots. …

After reading reports of faltering flight schools, I wandered over to the Fox Valley Technical College’s aviation campus on the Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to see how things were going in flyover country. Not so bad, it see…

It gives me great pleasure to announce Jetwhine’s latest collaboration with Shashank Nigam’s SimpliFlying. Shashank is a Boston and Singapore-based self-professed airline geek who loves marketing. Shashank creates brand initiatives with…

Every year about this time aviation writers around the globe start getting a little goose bumpy wondering if they made the cut. Making the cut means you’ve been nominated by the World Leadership Forum for the Aerospace Journalist of the Year …

Here’s a new installment of our sporadic Fun Friday adventures. From a couple of Jetwhine readers I now share a couple of very funny videos. The first, a new piece of Air New Zealand branding in a way only the folks next to the folks down unde…

Aviation history is written by the triad of people, planes, and places, and news about any of the three always catches my attention. The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently published its 22nd annual list of the nation’s 11 Most …

The NTSB meets this week to ask the tough questions about February’s Dash 8 crash in Buffalo. They’ll be looking at icing effects on aircraft performance, cold weather operations, sterile cockpit rules, crew experience, fatigue manageme…

Ever since I can remember personal flying has always represented the lion’s share of the general aviation fleet and hours flown, measured by the FAA’s annual GA and Part 135 survey. The most current data is for 2007, well before the econ…

New Yorkers often stand as a national litmus test of just how tough Americans can be in a crisis. The weeks and months after 9/11 showed us that even they have their limits although most found a place somewhere to bury those ugly days.In just a few…

Fly-in pancake breakfasts have been a grassroots aviation staple for nigh on a half century or more. Most of them are hosted by EAA chapters or local flying clubs, which is why the feast hosted by the Fox Valley Technical College at its aviation cam…

Across the aviation arc on the Internet many have bemoaned the April 9 passing of the old control tower at the Wittman Regional Airport, better known to the world by its location–Oshkosh. Photographers from the organization that  calls OSH ho…

The world watched in awe a few months back as Capt. Sullenberger put a US Airways A320 just where he wanted it – well so to speak – on the Hudson River, close by to a half dozen small boats that allowed for the quick rescue of all aboard…

The failed suicidal cross-country flight of 31-year-old Adam Leon drew a lot of media attention here in Wisconsin. When it was clear that he was approaching Madison (he never got closer than 5 miles), Governor Jim Doyle ordered the capitol evacuate…

Most airline passengers understand that pilots are required to qualify initially through FAA guidelines, are also required to regularly undergo a physical exam just to make sure some small problem doesn’t lead to incapacitation aboard a flight…

Roaming around the online aisles of Sporty’s Pilot Shop looking for something to keep my head in the sky while the economy has me tied to the ground, I ran across the “Download Center.” Curious, I gave it a click, expecting I’…

Until the 1980s, most pilot saw homebuilding as a lunatic fringe. Its stereotypical practitioners were older guys with rough hands and patched jeans rooting around in airport boneyards, looking for a deal. And then a funny thing happened: the produ…

For writers, any kind of writers, the big league means writing books. My first foray came 20 years ago when Tab Books – eventually absorbed into the McGraw Hill network – gave me a chance to write about something I held near and dear to…

A recent New York Times’s article, “Drones Are Weapons of Choice in Fighting Qaeda, ” added to the mounting evidence that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are changing the face of military aviation. This is especially true in the U.S. Air …

Measuring the health of U.S. flight schools is easy. Grab the latest General Aviation Manufacturers Association Statistical Databook and see how many student pilot certificates the FAA issued last year. The most recent number is for for 2007: 66,79…

In the spirit of my last post, Share Thumbs-Up Moments With Everyone, I just discovered a new air taxi company, ImagineAir, founded by two flight instructors who met at Georgia Tech. Based in Lawrenceville, just outside of Atlanta, ImagineAir made i…

FAA held a customer service seminar last week in Chicago. I always chuckle a bit when someone combines the FAA acronym with anything that even sounds like customer service. Sorry PT & DB. But then, today’s my birthday so I suppose most rea…

If you haven’t heard, the Internet and blogs like JetWhine are killing print journalism. Slowly, community journalists, everyday people with an interest in their community, are becoming our primary source of news. If you doubt this, watch TV …

Maybe I haven’t had enough coffee this morning, but I’m not sure how to take an article in the current issue of Wired, “Air Repair: Key to Eliminating U.S. Flight Delays? Redesign the Sky Over New York City.” It reminds me o…