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BLOGS

• Air Safety eJournal

  • Managing Risk – The Steve Appleton Equation

    The loss of Micron CEO, Steve Appleton, last week drew considerable media scrutiny and perhaps in the minds of some, reinforced the idea that general aviation is unacceptably dangerous. The early information is that shortly after takeoff  Appleton advised the tower he needed to return. It was reported that this was his second unsuccessful takeoff [...]

    Managing Risk – The Steve Appleton Equation

  • User Fees – The Safety Angle

    There is enough heated rhetoric regarding the topic to warm up an NFL stadium but what sends cold chills down my back is the very real possibility that some pilots will try to save a buck. We won’t discuss class warfare, party affiliation, collection efficiencies, big government, the fuel tax or inherent fairness. The politics [...]

    User Fees – The Safety Angle

  • Maritime Buzz Job

    As the details of the Italian cruise ship accident, the Costa Concordia, came out this mishap began to bear an uncanny resemblance to the aeronautical pastime of buzzing. The ship was on a pre-programmed course, one that it and other vessels took hundreds of times before. The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino apparently deviated from the [...]

    Maritime Buzz Job

• Reporting Points

  • Could you fly for three days and nights?

    Endurance tests in progress by French Solar Impulse pilot.

    Could you fly for three days and nights?

  • What would you do for a Thunderbird flight?

    They’re sleek. They’re fast. They’re precise. Their airshow performances put pilots in awe. They’re the Air Force Thunderbirds. After watching a show, who hasn’t thought of what it would be like to be in the cockpit during one of those routines? I’m hoping to find out what it’s really like. I’ve been fortunate enough to [...]

    What would you do for a Thunderbird flight?

  • Hawker chief gets bonus to avoid bankruptcy

    New Hawker Beechcraft CEO gets a bonus if he can keep the company out of bankruptcy.

    Hawker chief gets bonus to avoid bankruptcy

• Let’s Go Flying

  • Heading Home From Oshkosh

    After a week at Oshkosh, we were ready to head home. The first day out, we had a steady headwind of about 6-10 mph and averaged 60-65 mph over the ground. (At least that's what Wayne and I did - Bob as usual zipped along much more quickly.) My Talon was so perfectly trimmed out [...]

    Heading Home From Oshkosh

  • First breakfast flight!

    It was a cold morning at 8 am when my coworker, who is also a CFI, and I headed out to the Piper Archer we were going to fly to breakfast. Our destination was Kitty Hawk Restaurant in York, PA. Our first step was to defrost the plane, which had developed a thin coating on [...]

    First breakfast flight!

  • A Wonderful Week at Oshkosh

    What can I say about Oshkosh- the largest airshow in the world? (Although the sponsoring organization, the Experimental Aircraft Association, calls it AirVenture, everyone calls it Oshkosh.) First, there were planes, planes and more planes. People come to see the planes, and there were thousands of planes. I heard that over 10,000 planes fly in [...]

    A Wonderful Week at Oshkosh

• AOPA Now

  • A stop at Skyport

    I’ve spent the past few days traveling around Texas—a big state with a substantial concentration of general aviation pilots. My latest stop was Redbird Skyport, a facility that opened just last November at San Marcos Municipal Airport between Austin and San Antonio. I really enjoyed being back at the facility I visited just a few [...]

    A stop at Skyport

  • A taste of the West

    This morning I left the wintry weather in Frederick for a smooth flight to Fort Worth, Texas, where I’m enjoying a true western experience. While I’m here I’ll be hosting a Pilot Town Hall to bring local AOPA members up to date on all the important issues affecting general aviation. I always enjoy these events. [...]

    A taste of the West

  • User Fees…..Really??!!

    So, the Obama Administration budget negotiators last year suggested a $100 per flight operation user fee during the debt ceiling negotiations — Congress said, “no.” Then, the Obama Administration budget team suggested last year that the Super Committee consider the $100 per flight operation user fee – Congress said, “no.” During this debate last year, one [...]

    User Fees…..Really??!!

• Frugal Flier

• Let’s Go Flying Sweepstakes

  • College Park Airport’s first 100 years

    Only 33 nautical miles away from AOPA’s headquarters, College Park Airport’s (CGS) 100th Anniversary AirFair was the nearest event for AOPA’s 2009 Sweepstakes Let’s Go Flying Cirrus SR22. The Aug. 29 event was the first centennial of any airport anywhere, as College Park in suburban Washington, D.C., is the world’s oldest continuously operating airport. And [...]

    College Park Airport’s first 100 years

  • Where might the Cirrus show up next?

    A quick call to friend and fellow pilot Tom Linton on Saturday, August 22, confirmed his participation in our all-day aviation immersion experience. I picked him up less than 12 hours later on Sunday morning and we headed to Maryland’s Frederick Municipal Airport. The Let’s Go Flying Sweepstaks Cirrus SR22 was tucked in Hangar A11. [...]

    Where might the Cirrus show up next?

  • Getting there is half the fun–and most of the challenge

    Crossing two Great Lakes, a right hook into Canada, and a safe arrival at OSH Getting to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from the Mid-Atlantic by Cirrus requires answering one central question: whether to fly over Lake Michigan, or around it? Flying over the lake means being out of gliding range of either shore for about 20 minutes [...]

    Getting there is half the fun–and most of the challenge

• AOPA’s Hover Power

  • HEMS history

    Most people remember the TV show MASH. Set during the Korean War, it featured patients being flown into a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) with Bell 47 helicopters. In the beginning of the conflict the helicopters would occasionally pick up wounded soldiers when not busy with other missions. When doctors started noting that the survival [...]

    HEMS history

  • Gyroscopic Precession

    When reading about helicopter aerodynamics you will see the term gyroscopic precession. It refers to a principle of gyroscopes that states when a force is applied to a spinning object, the maximum reaction occurs approximately 90 degrees later in the direction of rotation. Since a helicopter’s main rotor acts like a gyroscope, this principle applies [...]

    Gyroscopic Precession

  • Helicopter maneuvers manual

    I recently had the opportunity to read a new book on helicopter maneuvers by author Ryan Dale. The book is titled Helicopter Maneuvers Manual and he wrote it to give students more resources for understanding how to perform required helicopter maneuvers. I liked the full color illustrations he used to help students visualize what the [...]

    Helicopter maneuvers manual

• Aviation eBrief
  • AIN reader poll selects Jack Pelton as next FAA chief
  • Cessna provides more work for Independence, Kan., plant
  • Law bans noisier jets in 4 years