General Posts

At a fundamental level I understand the technology that makes no-pilot, remotely controlled aircraft work. And it seems to work well in fixed-wing aircraft that fly high in the controlled airspace (see UAV Pilot Shortage & Military Intelligence&…

Ground school has been—and always will be—the most important part of learning to fly any aircraft. Whether it’s a Skyhawk with steam gauges or a glass-packed Skycatcher, the flying machine itself is just a training aid, the training tool wher…

When I give talks around the country about social media, I always try to mention what I call the primary intangible about these new tools … the opportunity to connect with new people, folks who are often in a position to help a younger person …

A subscriber to the FAA Safety Team notices, I immediately open and read emails with “Emergency Notice” in the subject line. On Saturday, January 16, Emergency Notice NOTC 2101 said: “The FAA has been made aware of an issue with …

Much has been made lately of the University of North Dakota’s new bachelor’s of science degree in aeronautics with a major in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations, taught at the Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences in Grand Forks.UND i…

On a sunny day when the wind speed is 10 times the single digit temperature, giving into web wanderlust beats the hypothermia that awaits outside. An interest in historic byways lead me to the National Park Service’s National Register Travel I…

Flipping through the channels the other day I paused on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show because the guest, Zach Braff of Scrubs fame, said a word that caught my ear, “Cirrus.” It seems he’s a new pilot, and to appear on the show, …

To maintain my face-to-face social skills and keep my mind nimble I am a substitute teacher for the local school district. Getting an early morning call from the high school offers the added treat of hearing how its principal is progressing toward h…

In a recent Fast Lane post, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote about the first meeting of the new aviation advisory committee that reports directly to him. Its members hail from airports, air carriers, management, labor, manufacturers, ge…

Tests are an important part of the learning process because they assess the knowledge students have acquired—and retained. This measurement is as important for students as it is for teacher. As anyone who’s taught any subject for the past cent…

Aviation is all about change, and it makes rapid advances in short spurts of time. World War I was once such spurt, and World War II was another. Capabilities soared and crew size shrank as progress took the place of navigators and radio operators.…

Preparing for my first encounter with a new (to me) integrated avionics system, I dove into the system’s reference guide with eager anticipation. With a PFD, MFD, and FMS keypad this baby had all the bells, whistles, and databases that qualify…

Ag flying has always interested me because it is one of the last bastions of professional stick and rudder flying. Sure, technology has infiltrated the cockpit, but here it replaces the flagman (human or otherwise) who helps the pilot apply even cov…

In the grand scheme of American aviation, at least as the FAA sees it, amateur-built aircraft aren’t even on the radar sweeping through regulated skies. Created in home workshops and comparatively unfettered by the bureaucracy, these flying m…

When I learned to fly back in the mid 1970s, the airspace over the LA Basin was pretty crowded. Because of the smog that then reduced the visibility to some degree every day, most aviators were usually quite serious about seeing and avoiding each o…

Owning and operating an airport was never one of Ted Vander Wielen’s life goals. But in 1995, Ted says, he learned that Bill Brennand was retiring and selling the airport he built 10 miles north of Oshkosh in 1968. The only party interested in…

In the August 31, 2009 Federal Register, the FAA published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 09-08, Pilot in Command Proficiency Check and Other Changes to the Pilot and Pilot School Certification Rules. Its seemingly disparate proposals regarding fli…

Unveiling the projects gestating in the Sonex R&D department, the Hornet’s Nest, during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the SubSonex jet and E-Flight Power System (covered last week in Jet & ESA Fly From Sonex Hornet’s Nest) got all the …

At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Sonex Aircraft pulled back the curtain on its research and development department, called the Hornet’s Nest, and unveiled three projects it’s been working on for the past handful of years. One of them the E-Fl…

For as long as I can remember, Southwest Airlines, now the largest U.S. domestic airline, created in the 1970s by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King, has been the low-cost airline others most want to emulate. The need to copy isn’t just about mone…

No one in aviation has escaped the recession, but it seems that some companies are better set up to deal with it because they pursue an old fashioned business model: listen to your customers, do everything in your power to meet their needs, and grow…

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…

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 …

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…