Features

FSS Privatization I would appreciate you giving me the opportunity to respond to this letter (AVmail, May 17).Mr. Jim Bemiss:I am a dedicated and hard-working Air Traffic Controller at the Terre Haute, Ind., AFSS. I must say I was offended at your letter this month on FSS privatization. Yes, we are in danger of losing […]

(Three runways, two intersections and a lesson in geometry.)While doing touch and goes at my home airport…Tower: Experimental XYZ, cleared to land 17, hold short of 35. Me (without thinking): Roger, cleared on 17, hold short of 35. (Several seconds later.) Voice on frequency: I want to see this! Another voice: Me, too! Tower: Uh, […]

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked readers what will happen when (and if) we finally run out of 100LL.  As you might guess, our readership isn’t exactly hoarding avgas – 155 of you (36% of respondents) say that, with over a quarter million engines depending on it, 100LL isn’t going away anytime soon.  […]

I wanted to make this month’s column another in the series of “courses” I’ve written over the last few years. The VFR season is upon us at Atlanta Center and the VFR traffic is climbing in direct relation to the mercury in the thermometer. As the summer progresses and the sky gets hazier, there will […]

Contract Towers Copy of a letter sent to Sen. Ted Stevens, Chairman, Senate Appropriations CommitteeDear Chairman Stevens:As Congress begins work on the Department of Transportation fiscal year 2005 appropriations bill that includes FAA Federal Contract Tower Program, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization urges you to also initiate a total investigation of the FAA as […]

This article was first published in World AirNews of South Africa. A small piece of Antarctic history was made on Qantas Flight 2915 to Antarctica earlier this year. It was the first full, corporate charter ever to the planet’s last great wilderness — the honor belonging to the Australian subsidiary of South African supermarket suppliers […]

While practicing for my commercial license I was in the practice area west of Cleveland Hopkins airport. I had the radio tuned to the tower and heard this… Controller: Cessna ###, what is your purpose here on the field? Pilot: I’m here for my check ride.(pause)Controller: Are you a bit nervous? Pilot: A bit… Controller: […]

*** PREVIOUS RESULTS *** Last week, AVweb asked our readers to tell us how the FAA is doing (particularly in light of the Air Tour NPRM).  You responded with a clear voice, 450 of you saying that groups like NATA, EAA, AOPA, and the SBA are important groups for mitigating the FAA’s influence and making […]

Firefighting Season (and Controversies) Begin Every summer the fire season kicks into gear with all the fury of World War III. The scenario repeats itself every single year. The same questions are asked, the same data used, the same (or increasing) cost to the taxpayer in fire-related losses (not to mention the lives lost). There […]

To the delight of the multitudes, spring has arrived in the higher latitudes. Here in the pilot’s lounge at the virtual airport, Old Hack showed up and growled proudly to the assemblage that he had survived another winter and only fired up the furnace seven times. He then made scurrilous comments about some of our […]