Holiday gift-giving, Washington-style

Charles Spence | Capital Comments | December 20, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Reaching reliable sources of information here can often be confusing and frustrating. I sought to interview someone about the Christmas holidays and wanted to go directly to the source for gift giving.

Knowing the problems of getting correct answers in Washington, I started checking sources around the nation. Everyone I talked to directed me to the same place. When I finally made contact, I was right back here in Washington and introduced to Uncle Sam. His hand-outs to folks in this country and around the world cause many to think of him as Santa Claus.

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Paper charts still needed, but AeroNav is wrong

Ben Sclair | Blogs, Touch & Go | December 20, 2011

Does anyone dispute the need for paper charts for pilots? I hope not. Likewise, there can be no doubt about the rapid rise of digital chart usage. More and more general aviation pilots (and airlines and flight departments for that matter) are adopting “appified” navigation via [insert app here] on Apple’s iPad and a few other tablet devices. How dare anyone stand in the way of this progress. Yet that is exactly what the FAA’s AeroNav (Aeronautical Navigation Products) division is proposing.

If you are unaware, AeroNav held a meeting on December 13 “for companies interested in distributing our digital product line in the future.” The meeting had a stated goal “to collaboratively discuss options for FAA’s AeroNav Products to develop a proposal to best distribute digital products.” That goal seems right enough… yet highlights from the meeting tell a much different story. Five of the nine bullet points from AeroNav’s meeting highlights mention fees and/or revenue.

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Oil giant pulls out of 100LL business

Ben Visser | Visser's Voice | December 19, 2011

UPDATE: Calls from AOPA and EAA Tuesday morning inform us Ben’s column is incorrect. Exxon-Mobil will continue the manufacture of unbranded 100LL fuel. Exxon-Mobil will discontinue branded fuel sales under the Exxon Avitat flag. We are awaiting confirmation from Exxon’s public relations people.

I recently read that Exxon-Mobil stopped manufacturing and selling 100LL. (I tried to contact them but did not receive a confirmation by press time.) What does this mean for you and your plane?

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GA groups oppose latest LightSquared offer

Charles Spence | Capital Comments | December 18, 2011

LightSquared’s recent offer to give up a few frequencies does not satisfy the Global Positioning System and its users, including the airline industry and general aviation.

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From student to mentor

Jamie Beckett | Flight Training, Politics for Pilots | December 13, 2011

This may not seem to be a column about politics, but it is. Because ultimately politics is the art of people interacting with other people in order to get something done. Based on that, flight instruction falls well within the realm of politics. And just like politics in the governmental sense, the politics of flight instruction can be both as uplifting and as infuriating as the Washington D.C. variety so often is.

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The Curtiss Autoplane

Dennis Parks | Flight & Flyers | December 12, 2011

Last year the Terrafugia Transition, a flying car project developed by a small group of MIT graduates, passed an important regulatory hurdle when the FAA agreed it could be certified in the Light-Sport Aircraft category. The concept of a flying car has captivated the imaginations of aviation dreamers for decades.

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FAA administrator resigns after DWI

Charles Spence | Capital Comments | December 7, 2011

Following his Dec. 3 arrest for driving while intoxicated (DWI), Randy Babbitt resigned as administrator of the FAA and his deputy has taken over as acting administrator. Michael Huerta is expected to remain in the post until after next year’s election to avoid any nomination squabbles prior to the election.

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Mistakes will be made

Jamie Beckett | Politics for Pilots | December 6, 2011

Human beings have a propensity for making decisions that lead to less than desirable outcomes. Said another way, we’re pretty dumb sometimes. That’s not exactly shocking news, I know. But then something comes down the news wires about one of us doing something stupid, or more often, allegedly doing something stupid, and we get ourselves all lathered up about the idiocy of whatever the flavor of the day is in the latest news cycle

On Monday of this week the news broke that FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt was arrested on a DWI charge in Fairfax, Virginia, over the weekend. By evening we knew that Babbitt had requested, and was granted, a leave of absence. At the same time it was learned that legal counsel were advising the Department of Transportation regarding Babbitt’s employment status.

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FK Lightplanes earns SLSA #123: FK12 Comet

Dan Johnson | Splog | December 6, 2011

As they’ve done numerous times, Hansen Air Group — a team of dedicated pilots, nearly all of whom fly or formerly flew airliners for their day job — has helped shepherd another Light-Sport Aircraft through the ASTM standards process to get a FAA airworthiness certificate. The Altanta area importer has done this with several aircraft, including some Tecnam models, Sky Arrow, and Peregrine. In recent months, Hansen took over U.S. import duties for FK Lightplanes, which has facilities in Germany and Poland.

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Florida to repeal ethanol mandate?

Kent Misegades | GAfuels | December 5, 2011

Your bloggers have reported this year on Florida’s ethanol mandates, which took effect in January of this year. As a consequence, Florida’s huge boating and sport aviation communities have suffered from a lack of ethanol-free fuel and all the known negative effects of ethanol blends.  It seems that consumers have had enough and are prepared to repeal the mandate, thanks to a bill passing through committee in the Florida Legislature sponsored by Representative Matt Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach.

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