The Buzz Posts

OK, I have to admit that occasionally Scott and I say a few things that upset folks, but only to pilots and air traffic controllers. Almost everyone else is safe … for now. But along with the ability to lob criticism on people and topics that we bel…

Ed Note: My friend Marc Epner and I often discuss why people always seem so focused on how much it costs to win a private pilot certificate. Obviously, there is much more fun to be had after passing that first checkride. BTW, Marc orginally called …

When I saw the caller ID this morning with CNN’s address I figured something awful was up. Usually is. “Can you talk about the Kennedy incident,” the producer asked me? Didn’t sound like she wanted me to talk about the impending runway closure. Th…

I have a confession. I’m responsible for much of the hate spewed at my friends Christi Day and Linda Rutherford at Southwest Airlines when a Southwest pilot tossed director Kevin Smith off a flight last week. The aircraft captain decided Smith was …

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   an…

A Global Express pilot friend of mine in Seattle, Val Trent – also an NBAA member – asked me a few weeks ago if I’d like to read something he’d written about the Polar Keyhole. At first, I thought maybe he’d started writing fiction and this was goin…

I’ve actually been trying to write this article for quite awhile. It was much tougher than I thought simply because I’m what my wife the psychologist would call conflicted, unsure of where I stood, or at least I was until a few days ago. If you fol…

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 find t…

It’s nice to be the editor of an aviation blog like Jetwhine.com because I’m lucky enough to connect with people from all parts of the globe, folks I would never have a chance to meet in my everyday life. A few weeks back, Josh Saul sent me a note …

At a time when most people don’t give space travel a second thought, I wanted to share this short clip of the Apollo 11 flight – the first time a human – Neil Armstrong – set foot on the face of the Moon. It took place just over 40 years ago and wa…

As if President Obama’s anger over the security leak that allowed a Nigerian man to nearly blow up a Delta Airlines flight inbound to Detroit on Christmas were not enough, the White House now needs to contend with a PR quagmire created entirely by…

I can’t believe it’s Christmas time again. Our thanks to the folks at Junior Flyer for this great Santa graphic too. Scott and I are going to take the rest of the week off to hang out with family, but we both wanted to leave you with a couple of co…

My story a few weeks ago about the two guys flying past MSP and the penalty they incurred for abandoning their post for over an hour seemed like a no-brainer to me. The two pilots were distracted for some reason we were unaware of at (Photo: Fokke…

After reading “Fly the Sleazy Skies,” an editorial in the November 26 New York Times, my first reaction was to say unkind things about politicians. In public they say bad things about business aviation, and then they get to eat their cake when the …

One of the truly enjoyable parts of life — for me at least — is the chance to travel often aboard a business airplane. If I’m not in the left seat, I’m usually pretty close as I was last week on board an Embraer Lineage enroute from West Palm Beac…

You NEVER, EVER want to receive a letter like this one from the FAA telling you that all your months or years of hard work and effort to win your pilot’s certificate have just gone up in smoke. After flying past Minneapolis a few weeks back, the FAA…

After running this blog for three years or so I can honestly say I’ve seen and heard quite a few really interesting stories about the aviation industry. I’m headed to AOPA Summit in Tampa next week because I want to hear a few more. The other day I…

Just like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, unraveling the real story behind the Northwest/Delta Airlines crew who forgot to land at MSP just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. Brings to mind the gap in the Nixon Watergate tapes. If that does…

So, you wanna be a professional pilot, huh? Despite the economy, there will be a good number of vacant cockpit seats in the next decade or so as the last of the baby boomer bulge reaches 65, the airline pilot retirement age. If you are a Wall Stree…

Most of you probably know that a few months back I was abducted at propeller point and forced to assume co-host duties at the Airplane Geeks. About that same time, I met Dan Webb, my other co-host, a truly brilliant young man who continues to impre…

My pal Rod Rakic – better  known as Mr. My Transponder – and I were chatting today about his upcoming vacation to Florida, not too far from the Kennedy Space Center and almost in time for the next Shuttle launch. I would do almost anything to be in …

Even for me, this whole business aviation as the bad guy thing is becoming pretty tiresome. How much longer can most of our industry sit back and take it before we evaporate? In last week’s USA Today article about Aviation Trust Fund dollars being …

After reading last week’s post, NPRM Points to Flight Training’s Future, Jason Blair, the executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), called early the morning it arrived in his email box. He was off to DC, he said, t…

The fact that the FAA and it’s cadre of air traffic controllers will be working with a new leader who will be announced later today is only the beginning of the story of how this union fits into the overall plan of our nation’s airspace system. Outs…