We typically steer clear of airline-related topics in General Aviation News. But for William Langewiesche’s feature – The Human Factor – on the Air France 447 in Vanity Fair, I’ll make an exception. As sophistication and automation in all aspects of aerospace has developed over the past few decades our role as pilots must be continuously […]
Opinion
Progress comes at a cost
At this very moment there is a team of highly skilled professionals who are out of sight and largely out of mind, yet they have been tasked with solving an almost unimaginably difficult puzzle. They work for the NTSB and their charge is to figure out exactly what went wrong last week aboard SpaceShipTwo, the […]
Bob Hoover honored
The National Business Aviation Association convention draws aviation’s elite and honors a few each year. This time, heartfelt kudos were laid on Bob Hoover as NBAA presented him its Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, its highest honor. A five-minute video included tributes from Clay Lacy, Harrison Ford, astronaut Gene Cernan and many others to explain why. […]
Ask Paul: More on Narrow Deck vs. Wide Deck engines
Q: Regarding Narrow Deck and Wide Deck Lycoming engines, what would be the differences between a Narrow Deck O360 and IO360 heads, sump, and fuel pump? The cylinders appear the same. BOB STOUGHTON, via email A: The Narrow Deck vs Wide Deck question regarding Lycoming engines seems to surface from time to time. There is no […]
NBAA14 also highlights utility GA, innovation
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention in Orlando Oct. 21-23 was termed a “massive success” by NBAA President Ed Bolen. Always is. Despite some down years, corporate aviation is booming (comparatively) and attention and spending follow the money. But there’s always more to NBAA than corporate jets. The 26,000 attendees at NBAA 2014 were treated […]
Plastic Fantastic P-51
By any number of surveys, the P-51 Mustang is one of the most admired airplanes in the history of aviation. Even though that statement sounds bold — on the verge of exaggeration — most readers will surely agree. Like most aviators, I’ve never flown in an original P-51, although I have flown in a light kit version called the […]
Is Facebook changing how you consume news?
Facebook. It’s social. It’s mobile. It’s ubiquitous. It’s free. What’s not to love about Facebook? [That’s sarcasm, by the way.] Facebook “drives up to 20% of traffic to news sites,” reports Ravi Somaiya in a recent New York Times story. On the General Aviation News website, since the start of 2014, we’ve seen just under […]
What have you done for me lately?
Like it or not, aviation enthusiasts are often classified by non-aviation enthusiasts as “those people.” As a card carrying member of the “those people” fan club, I’m often interested in how we’re perceived and routinely blamed for the ills of society by those who don’t understand us. In general, we’re neither loved or admired. Frequently […]
No longer business as usual for ATC
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Business as usual in air traffic management won’t work, which is why the FAA Administrator is calling on the aviation industry to help in adapting and assuring the financing of new approaches. That was the message FAA Administrator Michael Huerta brought in a recent speech to the Aero Club of Washington. The […]