If you’re reading this post, you can be fairly sure that you’re an aviation enthusiast. You might be a pilot, but you might not be, too. Believe it or not, there are massive numbers of people scattered across the globe who are aviation enthusiasts, yet who don’t personally feel the need to grasp the controls […]
Opinion
FAA forecast: Spot on or improbable?
As the Light-Sport Aircraft industry ramps up for a summer of flying and the season’s biggest celebration of flight, AirVenture Oshkosh, I am still analyzing the FAA’s recently issued 20-year forecast for aviation, which shows growth prospects for LSAs, while predicting a decline in the total number of piston-powered aircraft. Viewed from a distance, this might […]
LSAs vs. Cessna 150s
The downside for LSA: They aren’t as well known, they cost a lot more (new always does), and the mechanics don’t know them as well.
The conundrum of community
We who write about general aviation have a tendency to use a particular term to describe the lot of us. It is fairly common for us to describe the collective bunch as “the aviation community.” The intent is to bond us together, at least in the reader’s mind. And in many cases the term is […]
Welcome to Sling
Have you been thinking that it’s been some time since a new Special LSA was announced? While the torrid pace of yesteryear has abated, it ain’t over by a long shot. I know of at least a dozen aircraft still in progress to achieve SLSA status. Now, welcome to Sling, SLSA #125. Back on April […]
Remembering The Mighty Eighth
Traveling I-95, the East Coast’s main street, you come to something seemingly out of place in Savannah, Georgia: A museum dedicated to World War II’s Eighth Air Force. Visit and you’ll see why it’s here. You can’t fly-in, but it’s only two miles from KSAV. Why Savannah? Nearby Hunter Field was “the birthplace of the […]
Saying goodbye to a mentor
I was sitting in the terminal building in Orlando on my way home from SUN ’n FUN when my cell phone rang. “Meg, this is Peggy Boyd…” she began. Peggy is the wife of Dean Boyd, my friend and aviation mentor of some 20 years. The tone of her voice told me before she got the […]
Whistleblowers highlight safety issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA has the highest per employee whistleblower count in government. This startling statistic was sent to the President and Congress in a letter from the Office of Special Counsel, the agency responsible for protecting government employees who report problems where they work. Carolyn Lerner, the attorney who drafted the report, said […]
Wanna go for a ride?
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Whenever someone asks…”Do you wanna go for a ride?”… I hope your default answer is yes. AeroMark‘s Thomas Hoff grabbed my elbow, pointed at Addison Pemberton’s Boeing Model 40C on his ramp and asked, “You wanna go for a ride?”. Uh, YEAH… Five minutes later, me, Tom and Ivy and Ginny […]