Commentary

Robert Jenkins had a system deviation today. He was workingMetropolis-highR-side and the sector was down the tubes. Busy, busy, busy. Somewhere in therehe ran a guy into Southwest Center’s Capital City-high’s airspace. Bad news. That’s ano-no in air traffic control, running a guy into someone else’s airspace withouta handoff. Southwest Center, at least the system […]

The full verbatim transcript of Darryl Phillips’ trialbefore NTSB Judge Mullins, plus some “rest of the story”comments by Phillips are also available. The NTSB appeal is over and FAA lost. I now have my new certificate, with gliderrating, in my wallet. There will be no further appeal. I won. That is the end of the […]

BEFORE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICANATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Docket No. CD-33 In the Matter of: ADMINISTRATOR FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, Complainant, V. DARRYL H. PHILLIPS, Respondent. The above-entitled matter came on for Hearing, pursuant to Notice, before WILLIAM R.MULLINS, Administrative Law Judge, at Room 1020, 420 West Main, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,on Friday, September 5, 1997, […]

In early February, Boeing’s second-largest union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), went out on strike. I’m in kind of a unique position; I’m one of the striking engineers and also an aviation journalist. It is said that this is the largest white-collar strike in history. Couple that with the fact that […]

My compliments to Mr. Erik Reed-Mohn for a very well-written response to my columns on this subject. He eloquently expresses the factors behind the drive to adopt new (to most of the world) procedures. I remain unconvinced, but rather than flog this horse to death, I have but a few comments, and will thereafter move […]

This article is written in response to Mr. John Deakin’s Pelican’s Perch columns #24 and #25 concerning Constant-Angle Non-Precision Approaches (CANPA), in which Mr. Deakin takes the position that such stabilized non-precision approaches may not be appropriate for use by other than glass-cockpit aircraft with VNAV automation. I differ with that view. The concept of […]

A VIP secretary named SlaterPreferred acting much laterAs he covered his chinHe spoke with chagrin“I’m responsible for many a crater.” — And the winner of AVweb‘s Poetry Contest …

Okay,folks. This nonsense has gone far enough. It’s one thing when a handful of self-appointed Y2K consultants and gurus hang outtheir shingles and their web sites to take advantage of the gullible and panic-prone. Orwhen a few thousand survivalist whackos announce plans to spend their 1999 Christmasvacations fleeing from civilization and holing up in the […]

I had just returned from my second tour in Vietnam flyingfighters and was spring-loaded to the “go” mode. Now here I was, a “staffweenie” in a fighter wing at Kadena, getting checked out in the base flight T-39Sabreliner. Although I’d had a lot of quality flying experience in a short time period, Iwas at the […]

While I was at EAA AirVenture ’99 in Oshkosh, I had thehonor of interviewing Paul Poberezny, whotold me, “Flying on the airlines isn’t flying, it’s transportation.” At thetime, I didn’t appreciate the significance of Paul’s remark quite as fully as I do now. My trip to Oshkosh was flying. I flew there in Mike Busch’s […]