The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting that the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, will be open for business during the September 24-25 G-20 summit. Pittsburgh International will also “business as usual, or maybe business as close to usual as possible”.
OthelloOutlook.com: Weaver takes championship with homemade aircraft
August 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Gary Weaver holds the plaque he received for taking reserve grand champion at a recent aircraft show in Arlington. (OthelloOutlook.com)
The Othello (Washington) Outlook profiled owner/pilot Gary Weaver and his Just Aircraft Highlander. Weaver won reserve grand champion at July’s Arlington Fly-In.
Wired.com enamored with electric-powered aircraft
August 18, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Wired.com writer Jason Paur is enamored with electric-powered aircraft. His story starts with
Sometimes history can make you jealous. Imagine what it would have been like, as an aviation buff, to see the Wright brothers fly the Flyer II around Huffman Prairie. Or to stand at Roosevelt Field and watch Charles Lindbergh fade into the eastern sky. Or to have been in the Mojave and heard the boom when Chuck Yeager broke the mythical sound barrier.
We’re at one of those moments right now. No one can say for sure where electric aircraft will take us, but as we watched the first generation of battery-powered airplanes hum across the sky at the AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, we couldn’t help but feel we were witnessing the dawn of a new era in aviation. It felt like one of those moments we’ll look back on with stories that begin, “I remember when…”
Aircraft Spruce Receives Platinum Award from Garmin
August 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co, received the Platinum Award for achieving the highest sales performance among Garmin International distributors. Aircraft Spruce has received similar awards from Garmin for elite performance over the past ten years, always ranking among the top distributors for Garmin aviation products worldwide.
The Hudson River Conga Line
August 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Submitted by Arthur G. Allen, Commissioner, Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission
Those of us who have flown the so called “VFR Corridor” through the New York Airspace, often looking up at the skyscrapers, have had the flying thrill of a life time. I believe that pilots who have flown the Hudson River at the prescribed altitude know the degree of risk they run. Few places in the world offer the kind of challenge — except maybe the annual Oshkosh fly-in.
Reno Air Races to be broadcast live
August 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment
LiveAirShowTV will cover the championship races in all classes, a performance by the United States Navy Blue Angels, other top air show acts and the National Aviation Heritage Invitational competition on Sunday, September 20 at the Reno Air Races.
“We did a live audio stream last year,” says Reno Air Racing Association President/CEO Mike Houghton. “The fans really loved it, but they really wanted to see the live racing action from the World’s Fastest Motor Sport. With the economic challenges many people have this year, we are excited to have found a way for them to see Sunday’s Gold Racing finals live.”
[Read more...]
[Idaho] Valley should have two airports
August 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment
A well-written opinion by David Dingman in Friday’s Idaho Mountain Express and Guide. In response to the reported closure of Friedman Memorial Airport for safety reasons, Mr. Dingman suggests keeping Friedman open for the 98% of traffic than can operate safely from the airport, rather than close it because of the 2% that have issues with the airport. From the editorial:
“I agree that we need a new airport, for the airlines. The new location will be fine for the airlines but will be a disaster for general aviation (all aviation other than airlines and military). General aviation is a significant economic force in the Wood River Valley.”
Read Mr. Dingman’s opinion here.
‘Max Trescott GPS Guides’ for iPhone
August 13, 2009 by 1 Comment
Half of GPS users surveyed said they have difficulty getting a GPS to do what they want. Using flight plans and finding infrequently used pages were the most common issues. Author Max Trescott has launched “Max Trescott GPS Guides” for the iPhone. In partnership with Hilton Software, the initial release includes applications for the Garmin GPSMAP 296, 396, 495, 496, 695 and 696 GPSs. “We are happy to extend our market-leading position on the iPhone by partnering with Glass Cockpit Publishing to create GPS Guides for the iPhone. The new GPS Guides offer unprecedented ease of use and eliminate fumbling through checklists.” said Dr. Hilton Goldstein, CEO of Hilton Software LLC.
Each page has detailed explanations and GPS screen shots, not just a list of steps. Tips are also included offering suggestions on how best to use the GPS. Plus you’ll always have the most current information, since you can download application updates after new GPS features are introduced. Detailed explanations on accessing weather information are included for all XM Weather enabled GPSs.
NPR hatchet job
August 13, 2009 by Leave a Comment
The National Public Radio show All Things Considered discussed uncontrolled airspace following the Hudson River midair from last weekend. (Read transcript or listen to FAA: Midair Collision Mirrors Other Near-Misses from Monday, August 10). Author Frank James wrote on “the two-way blog“ to follow up the radio interview. To say it was less-than-stellar is an understatement.
“Not only did he find that nearly half of the [near-miss] reports came from uncontrolled airspace; he also learned that three-quarters of all the near-misses involved aircraft being operated under visual flight rules.”
There is no context to the data offered until a reader wanders down to the comments area. For that matter, from the about quote we can infer than MORE than half of near-miss reports come in controlled airspace. Using my logic, if we want to reduce the amount of near-miss reports, we should reduce the amount of controlled airspace.
New York Post: Why the FAA fails
August 13, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Robert Poole Jr., writes an interesting story in the New York Post (August 11) on why the FAA fails (as it relates to the Hudson River midair). Better yet, he TRIES to explain why the FAA fails. From the story:
Everyone recognizes that airspace above and around major airports must be controlled, but GA groups resist any expansion of controlled airspace, which restricts their members’ freedom to fly. In turn, because the GA crowd has a lot of clout with Congress, the FAA (which gets its budget from Congress) must take that into account in any redesign of airspace.
WOW! We in GA apparently have “a lot of clout with Congress”. Who knew? Sorry Mr. Poole, things are a little more complex and no, we don’t enjoy the clout you believe we do.
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