Preparations are underway for the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, the eighth running of the focused event. The annual gathering in Sebring, Florida, occurs about the third week of January each year and, as such, kicks off the aviation calendar. (Sun ’n Fun now starts the season of recreational flying.) Recently we visited the show site […]
Opinion
Connecting flights
The end of the year is a time of reflection. As 2011 winds down, my family and I experienced an unreal 19-day stretch that put a great deal into perspective about life and aviation. Here’s a peek into a public journal: Nov. 10: My wife, Deb, and I were in the Indianapolis International Airport when […]
Correction: Exxon Mobil to remain 100LL manufacturer
In a blog posted on Monday, December 19, fuels expert Ben Visser incorrectly stated that Exxon Mobil had stopped manufacturing 100LL for the general aviation marketplace. In fact, Exxon Mobil continues to manufacture 100LL for distribution under brand names other than its own. Exxon Mobil will cease selling 100LL under Avitat-branded FBOs. Says Ben Visser, […]
Holiday gift-giving, Washington-style
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 […]
Paper charts still needed, but AeroNav is wrong
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 […]
Oil giant pulls out of 100LL business
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 […]
GA groups oppose latest LightSquared offer
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. LightSquared has offered to give up half the frequencies in the spectrum it wants to set up a nationwide broadband satellite-based network, if the FCC will let another organization […]
From student to mentor
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 […]
Meigs Field: Still a pyrrhic sacrifice to ‘good intentions’
With last month’s passing of Maggie Daley, Chicago’s former first lady, from power, political blogger Greg Hinz reflected on stillborn plans to turn Meigs Field, the city’s former lakefront GA airport, into a major city park. Years later: Nothing – a typical fate for big government plans and ever more so now under today’s tight […]