We donated a gift subscription to the Friends of Oceano Airport (FOA) for their May 12 Oceano Airport Celebration silent auction. In today’s mail I received a thank you letter from FOA organizers, Mitch Latting and Jolie Lucas. From the letter, “we’ve gathered funds which will help us continue to promote and protect this ‘little slice of […]
Opinion
The unavoidable nature of ‘No’
If you’re going to advocate for general aviation, or pretty much anything else for that matter, you should probably get comfortable with the notion that you’re going to hear the word “no” from time to time. Frankly, you’re probably going to hear it a lot, so get used to it. Hate it. Get frustrated, annoyed, […]
Drones getting easier to fly in U.S.
A May 31 story by Sarah Childress on the Frontline website is titled, “It’s Getting Easier to Fly Drones in the U.S.” The story links to a few videos posted by the Mesa (Arizona) County Sheriff’s Office showing how they use their UAS. Childress also links to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s “Lists of Drone Certificates” […]
Flying someplace different(ly)
A seaplane trip to Bimini? I took the bait and learned a lot, had a good time and spent more than I should. But getting away to an island is the perfect case for general aviation. And Bimini is closer to the Florida coast than any Bahamas island. I got the chance to ride along […]
C150 owner saves $800 annually with autogas
Mark “Prigs” Priglmeier, an officer of EAA Chapter 551 in St. Cloud, Minn., contacted us recently on the use of autogas in his C-150F: “I started using autogas in my 1966 C-150 at about 500 or so hours prior to my engine rebuild at just over 2300 smoh. I have had no issues. The engine […]
The marriage between piston rings and cylinder wall
Getting back to the main point, if you don’t remove the piston from the cylinder, then you don’t have to worry about disturbing the marriage I spoke of, and honing and installing new rings is not required.
Controllers say realignment OK if they are part of plan
WASHINGTON, D.C — Congress is taking a look at the FAA’s plans and efforts to consolidate air traffic control facilities and the controllers’ union says it supports the changes, but only if safety, efficiency, and service are improved. Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told the House Aviation Subcommittee that facility […]
FAA study: GA airports a national asset
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly 50 years ago I wrote a magazine article titled “Airports are for people who DON’T fly.” The FAA’s recently released 18-month study of GA airports has information documenting that claim, which people who don’t fly should know. The study tells of the many different functions at these airports that advance the […]
Pipistrel finalizes a new LSA trainer
Engineers at Pipistrel must not sleep in too often. This company, which won the NASA efficiency challenge several times — in 2011 taking home a $1.35 million cash prize — just unveiled a full-size version of a sleek four-seat design called the Panthera. Now on the other end of the spectrum comes its Alpha Trainer, […]