Some of us will be flying the Great Lakes soon to reach AirVenture or otherwise cruising some lake, bay, sound or shoreline towards cooler weather. I thought I’d call up last January’s ditching in the Hudson River Corridor to ponder cautionary tales. We can all celebrate that impossibly good ditching of a fixed-gear PA-32 Cherokee […]
Opinion
Cambridge Municipal adds mogas
Pilots in southwestern Nebraska and northern Kansas will get some relief from high avgas prices soon when the Cambridge, Nebraska Municipal Airport (CSB) starts selling mogas. Donny Sailors, manager of this rural airport a mile north of Cambridge, describes the effort: “We saw a need and realized an opportunity to provide a third fuel. Additionally, […]
When landings give you lemons…
On Monday evening a Southwest Airlines flight from Nashville to New York touched down at LaGuardia. Then the sparks flew. The nose gear collapsed on roll-out, the airplane skidded to a stop, and all hell did not break loose. I repeat, nothing much happened. That same evening the ABC affiliate in the city reported that […]
Oil companies demand end to ethanol mandates
As described in our March 10 article, it is generally accepted that fuel companies hit the so-called blending wall this past winter, a situation where EPA blending mandates cannot be fulfilled, even if every drop of gasoline contains 10% ethanol by volume. This has unleashed the unintended consequence of RIN (Renewable Identification Number) speculation, as […]
A long cross-country on mogas
Thanks go out to GAfuels reader Michael Gallagher of Peoria, Ill., for sending us this story on his recent long cross-country trip in the mogas-burning, Rotax 912ULS-powered RANS S-7S he built himself: “On June 19th, I loaded up my 2011 Rans S7S with luggage and my 5-year-old son/co-pilot and took off from Peoria, Ill., (KPIA) […]
The Surly Bonds of Earth
My Old Man didn’t realize that when he shared his love of flying with me all those years ago that a whole new world and a whole new community of friends would be opened up to both of us. Unfortunately, our shared love of flight doesn’t make our aviation community immune from life. Since the […]
Do you feel lucky?
Guest Editorial By STEVE BILL HANSHEW Pilots dread ramp checks. It’s a lot like a prostate exam in a flight physical — you don’t want one, but sooner or later you’re going to get one. No matter that it’s a part of an FAA inspector’s job to periodically audit any aircraft he or she chooses, […]
NextGen still facing unresolved issues
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FAA’s program for the Next Generation Air Traffic Control system (NextGen) has made some progress, but still lacks major planning decisions and actions that can both delay implementation and substantially increase the cost. At a Congressional hearing Wednesday, July 17, the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation said the FAA has taken […]
The AirVenture effect
On a bright and beautiful central Florida morning, my phone rings. Steve McCaughey of the Seaplane Pilots Association is on the other end, upbeat and chipper as ever. Since we both live in the same town and have a common fascination with waterborne flying machines, he’s offering me a ride and a room at AirVenture, […]