Features

These words are impromptu “Talking Stick” remarks that just came out during a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the life of Richard Dyken on July 15, 1999. A dedicated sky-diver-driver, he had just lost his life doing what he loved so much. The Talking Stick is a symbolic staff that served Native American […]

FAA Budget Cuts The FAA should not be cut another 12.6% (NewsWire, Sep. 20). I have been in this business since 1964. It used to be that we always had a FAA inspector looking over our shoulder. We never knew when. Due to cuts, you can’t even get them out of the office unless they […]

Pilot lounges are happy places containing the most entertaining bulletin boards available in the aviation world.You can tell a lot about the state of the world and what time of year it is by just looking over what is for sale on the wall of a lounge. When you see motorboats, airplanes, and expensive motorcycles […]

“Overheard this one while in the pattern at PBH…” Pilot: Price County traffic, Experimental #### will be going down in the lake off the end of 01. Unicom: Will notify Sheriff’s department immediately. Hang on! Pilot: ………..Uh, negative………we’re an Amphibian.

GA Screening Bill Rep. Weiner clearly doesn’t go far enough (NewsWire, Sep. 13). He should include private cars and trucks in his ban from cities of one million or more. Plus all truckers, bus drivers, train drivers, boaters and their passengers should be subject to rigorous security checks. We should ban anyone with packages more […]

I was eagerly awaiting t/o clearance while holding short of the runway in FLL. There were several aircraft on approach, including a Shorts 360. After several requests for t/o, I intervened one more time. The response was a bit of a surprise… Tower: Sir, just give me a moment while I get my Shorts down.

You know it’s bad when you walk into the control room and hear a controller yell, “I want a tracker!” It really wasn’t what he said so much as how he said it. The high side was trying to work all the East Coast traffic around Tropical Storm Gaston and it was getting ugly. A […]

Cell Phones in Airplanes After a recent AVweb article that recommended readers review the material on the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), I followed the recommendation and read the report on Passenger Electronic Devices (PED). The prospect of cell phones on airplanes (now) scares me to death! I hope the PIC exercises his authority […]

Yes, I know that by now Oshkosh — er, the EAA Air Venture 2004 — is desperately old news, what with the kids back in school and some of us actually settling down to get some work done after the summer holidays. But I have to tell you that I’m still excited by what I […]