Blogging Posts

Commenting on my recent post, LSA Pilots Could Spoil a Good Thing, a JetWhine reader said operating costs were missing from the mix. While LSAs might be pricier than hoped, “they still run at far lower operating costs— making plane ownership f…

Come July of this year, aviation bloggers will find it impossible not to answer the call to our Mecca for the first Aviation Blog Fest in history – I think. In addition to a chance to hang out with many other very cool aviation bloggers and r…

News that a flight school now offers sport pilot training is quick to catch my eye. The March 2008 the Oklahoma Aviator reported that Oklahoma’s Chickasha Wings Inc. had added an Ercoupe 415-C to its fleet, which also includes two Cessna 150s,…

Normally, Jetwhine does not post pieces without the author’s name. This is an exception since this story is from an active line pilot. We’ve changed the author’s name to protect what is left of their career. Admittedly, this is a l…

Pilots are a contentious bunch, but if there’s one thing they agree on it is that flying is too expensive. Naturally, they blame the companies that sell them the stuff they want.Affordability was a  primary selling point of sport pilot/l…

If you haven’t read Graham Warwick’s blog – the Woracle – you’re missing something spectacular. I’m always amazed at the cutting-edge topics he covers.But maybe he has more time on his hands because the English a…

Simplicity and affordable flying for fun were the driving forces that sustained the sport pilot/light-sport aircraft effort during its 10-year path to reality. In short, it was supposed to be flying unplugged — stick and rudder, look out the w…

Once the Pentagon chose the Airbus A330 over the Boeing 767 to begin replacing over 500 aging Boeing KC-135 tankers, it was a sure bet that sparks would fly. And they did, within hours of the selection.The Boeing folks of course are really upset at…

When the airlines start hiring, it doesn’t take long for flight schools large and small to start wailing about the shortage of certificated flight instructors. As FAA airmen certificate data proves, this is utter nonsense.More pilots hold cur…

This seems like a simple question, and it is–unless you’re talking about an amateur-built experimental aircraft. Here the answer is critical because these aircraft are certificated under FAR 21.191(g), which requires “…the ma…

In the February 1908 Scientific American, Wilbur Wright wrote in Flying as Sport that up to that time “men have taken up flying partly from scientific interest, partly from sport, and partly from business reasons….” But recreationa…

So tell me how you really feel!Believe it or not, I didn’t buy everything that came from 800 Independence hook line and sinker, any more than I would totally believe something I hear from 1325 Massachusetts Avenue 100 percent.I simply publis…

Talking recently with Michael Maya Charles, author of Artful Flying, our conversation turned a pilot’s passion for flight, for deft stick-and-rudder skills. Why, we wondered, does a pilot’s ardor wane from the student high as flight hour…

If you’ve been a regular Jetwhine reader, you know we seldom cover breaking news.Today is an exception for a number of reasons.Just a few minutes after Cessna’s vice president of marketing Tom Aniello briefed his sales force with the j…

Do you know this fellow?Scott Spangler and I recently met for the first time at a Starbucks in Oshkosh, land of each summer’s AirVenture . Although this was our first meeting in person, Scott and I have corresponded by letter, e-mail and phon…

We’ve all been talking about the looming pilot shortage – as well as a shortage of aviation mechanics. Some airlines have already begun feeling the pinch as the requirements for future cockpit members have begun to plummet in a simple su…

Hello Jetwhine readers. Today we’re going to light up those little capillaries inside your cranium. You all think you’re so smart don’t you? Well, here’s your chance to prove how much you know about aviation, general aviation…

As you read this, the ugly weather should have departed California headed east and Garry Mitchell should be taking off for another day’s flying. Mitchell’s office is often a bit of a moving target, so this week he’ll spend most of …

I remember early on in the computer revolution when laptops first moved to the forefront of mobile computing.They were much heavier than today’s models, but they certainly made connecting on the road a valuable option for many of us road war…

A Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed just after takeoff Saturday into the icy waters off Kodiak Island Airport about 250 miles southwest of Anchorage. Initial reports indicate the left nose baggage door on the aircraft opened up right after liftoff. Six…

A friend in DC just e-mailed this update to the Jetwhine news room.From the wastelands of New Mexico comes the news – no, Eclipse is fine, for now.This is certain to become THE news story of 2007, from the same state that brought you preside…

It’s been quite a busy few weeks for the webmaster at the Cessna Skycatcher blog since the Textron subsidiary announced its plan to assemble the C-162 in China. The blog has been the landing site for a number of heated comments poking hard at …

Southwest Airlines has again proven that running an airline – at least from a customer’s perspective – doesn’t need to simply fluctuate between chaos and more chaos.On the way back from the Blog World Expo conference in Las …

I’ve been really touched by how many regular readers noticed that Jetwhine just turned one.A year ago I had dinner with a buddy in Wichita who seriously questioned why I was trying to blend a little new media talk with the rest of the aviatio…