mtrescott Dramatic video shows the landing that led to the fiery crash of a Fed Ex MD-11 cargo jet a few hours ago at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. The video shows what appears to be a hard, bounced landing. Shortly after the bounce, the nose of the aircraft appears lower than the tail as the aircraft contacts … Read more
[Coming up in 1 week: Our series on General Aviation Heros. Enter your email address to receive the series]A famous Beach Boys song says to “Be true to your school now/ And let your colors fly.” One pilot friend is doing that—and he’s helping to keep General Aviation alive at the same time. If you’ve … Read more
When I wrote Max Trescott’s G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook, I couldn’t have imagined that it would connect me with pilots around the world, some of whom have come to California to fly with me and others for whom I’ve traveled to fly with them at their home airport. For example, this week I’m flying with … Read more
Over the last 2 days, I’ve been in touch with a number of flight school owners and other people in GA related businesses. The overall picture is mixed. Here are some snippets of what I’m hearing. Some flight schools are down as much as 40% over the last 2 years and a few have gone … Read more
Great films are rare. Great flying movies that evoke the passion of flying are even rarer. I’m happy to say that A Pilot’s Story looks like it will be one of those rare films that move us as pilots and reconnect us with the passion that permanently bonds us to aviation. Best of all, it … Read more
Audio tapes of the conversation with the pilot of the Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood in December killing 4 people were released today. At the same time, it was announced that 13 Marine Corps personnel were being disciplined for errors in the incident. While typically general aviation pilots … Read more
While the general public has a fascination with aviation, their exposure to it is usually limited to the airlines. General Aviation generally flies under the radar of both the media and our elected officials. But when USA Today thinks it’s important enough to write not one, but two articles on the issues facing GA, it’s … Read more
Thanks to everyone who submitted a comment on the TSA’s LASP program. More than 1,000 comments were submitted in the last 5 days, bringing the total to about 4,000, which may be a record for an aviation related NPRM. Having read dozens of the comments, I can tell you that they were respectful, well thought … Read more
Since my original blog post, I’ve been in contact with some of the top leaders in the GA industry. They too are concerned about LASP and agree that your help is needed. You may have noticed that other popular blogs, including www.jetwhine.com, www.plasticpilot.net, www.aviationchatter.com, www.myflightblog.com, www.askacfi.com, www.av8rdan.com and mileofrunway have all echoed the need for pilots … Read more
General Aviation is facing a huge threat and it's not User Fees. In fact, I would gladly accept a program of user fees over the TSA’s proposed Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP). Why are user fees better? Because they would be less expensive ($25 per flight versus $44 per flight), provide the same increase in security … Read more