With the debt crisis averted.. for now, the FAA’s funding status has regained prominence in the mainstream media. However, a series of press releases, news stories and the recently completed EAA AirVenture have me thinking. A July 28 press release from Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) titled, “Facts About FAA Partial Shutdown” includes 17 “facts.” Following […]
Touch & Go
Godspeed Dad
The man in the photo is Dave Sclair. To me… he’s Dad! Well, Dad passed away on Tuesday night, July 26. Mom and I were with him, reading stories from Dad’s work-in-progress book, “A somewhat lighthearted look at the life and times of Mary Lou & Dave”. We laughed, cried and remembered. If such an […]
Arlington odds ‘n ends
The Arlington Fly-In (July 7-10) was fun. While the vendor area shrunk from prior years, the show line appeared about 95+% full of show planes on Saturday. A nice number of beautiful aircraft (see some uploaded to Twitter and Facebook). As I walked about on Saturday, I met and spoke with a great many people. […]
Should rare planes be grounded?
“Liberty Belle crashed just outside of Aurora. Seven out of seven onboard made it out.” This text message greeted me the morning of June 13. Like so many other warbird enthusiasts, I went to the Internet to search for information about the accident. I found video shot from both the ground and the air showing […]
Irony is Congress lecturing on financial stewardship
Ironic: A member of Congress lecturing the FAA Administrator on financial stewardship. From Tuesday’s (July 5) edition of The [Tacoma, WA] News Tribune: “We need to see a realistic strategy for funding NextGen,” she [Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.] told FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt at a May hearing. “To date, the FAA has filled its budget […]
The route to real training reform
GUEST EDITORIAL By RADEK WYRZYKOWSKI, founder, IMC Club Success can be measured in many different ways. When it comes to the recent and very timely Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) Pilot Training Reform Symposium, I confess to having mixed feelings about what was achieved. I do need to start with a sincere thank […]
Who expected a tornado?
I’ve been going to Sun ’n Fun every year since 2002, which has caused me a lot of grief in the past. That’s because my son’s birthday is April 8, which fell right in the middle of the festivities many years. But this year, no grief from that quarter. That’s because, for the first time, […]
Trimming trees
GUEST EDITORIAL By Matthew Kiener “Any new ideas regarding the trees?” someone asked. A group had gathered to discuss, among other things, the trees at the end of several New Jersey runways, forcing the implementation of displaced thresholds. These trees are on adjacent properties and oftentimes the land owners are less than receptive to our […]
Damn tornadoes
But the damage brings out the best in people Tornadoes take on many forms, and are different beasts to different people. At the recent Sun ’n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., the tornado was called an EF1. If you are John Burton, president of Sun ’n Fun, the tornado that hit LAL on March 31 […]