FAA Posts

When the FAA tells you they’re changing the way they conduct business because they want to be more fair to someone, or that they want to save money, it’s probably time to duck. You can pretty much be sure that whatever they have in mind …

I can’t believe I’m going to say something nice about the TSA again. That’s twice in a couple of months.I do think it’s worth mentioning that the TSA has actually created a product with value in their new TSA PreCheck card, …

Since I learned to fly in 1976, the vicissitudes of life have removed me from the cockpit and later returned me to the left seat. As a rusty pilot, I am again at a point where my return to the sky is possible, but deciding whether to take advantage …

Pardon our tardiness delivering this week’s episode, but we wanted to wait for our new logo to show up. Many thanks to @runwaygirl’s sister Anne Kirby and The Sweet Core crew for launching us into the 21st Century.On to the content. Thi…

 It’s time to get our listeners caught up on The Aviation Minute.Seems that working the kinks out of our new podcast turned out to be a bit more time consuming than I’d at first thought. Now that the iTunes folks tell us The Avi…

Has the exemplary aviation safety record become its own worst enemy because it instills unrealistic expectations of risk in the minds of those fly? As a consequence, reactions to these infrequent but unpreventable circumstances instantly climbs to a…

I know the TSA costs us billions every year, but for once, I think people need to appreciate them for the good things those folks do … especially in light of the possibilities that hijackers may have taken out Malaysian 370 last week.Rob Mark…

Four years ago Sporty’s President & CEO Michael Wolf took time at year’s end to compile a list of the developing trends in general aviation. I look forward to it each year because Sporty’s probably has more contact with the spe…

The outrage over the FAA’s recently announced medical certification policy to require pilots with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more to be examined for obstructive sleep apnea has been consistent across all channels. (And is it coincidence …

Responding to the tragedy of Colgan Flight 3407, the FAA has issued a final rule that “is a significant advancement for aviation safety and U.S. pilot training,” says Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in the FAA news release.Really?…

Getting old isn’t really so bad, is it?Sure a few more lines and sags stare back at you every morning in the mirror, but the upside to aging is wisdom.Jetwhine’s 7th birthday is just around the corner and I like to think Scott Spangler…

The refueling probe on this Learjet isn’t the latest option available from the venerable business jet manufacturer. It’s not connected to the airframe’s plumbing, but it is an integral part of a flight test program at Navy Pax Riv…

Most of my friends and acquaintances are, in some way or another, involved with aviation. Talking with them over the past months, the future of aviation seems to be the discourse destination of choice. On the whole, their outlook on aviation’s…

Having been deeply involved with two major unions in my life … the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO) and finally for a short while, the National Air Traffic Controllers Associatio…

More than a year ago Icon Aircraft petitioned the FAA for an exemption from the LSA max weight limit so it would incorporate the structure that made the A5 fully meet the FAA Part 23 standard for spin resistance. Announcement that the FAA granted th…

Every aviation blogger I’ve ever met is certain they possess a magic grasp on their own little corner of the industry, which is of course why we all do what we do.Some bloggers are just better writers than others, or better marketers of their…

Inadequate revenue from aviation taxes on fuel and tickets, which fund the U.S. aviation infrastructure and the agency that regulates it, is how some in the FAA justify their desire for user fees to make up the difference. Before they go there, why …

Searching for a scintilla of logic behind the FAA’s ATC fees  for the air traffic control services it provides at fly-ins, I realized that the roughly $500,000 bill it sent EAA AirVenture Oshkosh was, in effect, an airline baggage fee. From ei…

 Photo: Michael PieracciWith just 130 or so comments received by the May 24 deadline, I guess the FAA felt it didn’t have enough flight training comments on its Draft Airman Certification Standards that its Airman Testing Standards &…

Just about the time you thought you’d have a Saturday free to kick back and goof off comes word that The Airplane Geeks will again be a part of the Air & Space Museum’s Become a Pilot Day on June 15th. Now of course if you live outsi…

Catching up on the news after a two-week vacation that was, like my last two week respite in 1975, totally disconnected from the wider world, on May 5 The New York Times reported that there are new aircraft designs in the works because “Jet Ma…

After we recorded this week’s episode of the Airplane Geeks Show, I decided to turn over a new leaf and stop whining about people like the new DOT Secretary. To be honest, I had a little motivational help from our guest Jason Paur (@jasonpaur)…

Wandering around Addison Airport, a busy Dallas-area reliever, one Monday morning in late April, I dropped in, unannounced, at the airport’s four flight schools. Given the day and hour, I assumed they wouldn’t be busy and would have time…

Looking back on the decade of my life I spent working at FAA I remember one thing for certain. When someone at the agency told me “No,” the reasons were seldom clear.“No,” might have meant something as simple as “No,&#…