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NOTE: An actual photographic copy of this report is also available here in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). It is approximately one megabyte long and takes several minutes to download over a dial-up connection. U. S. Department of TransportationFederal Aviation Administration800 independence Ave., S WWashington D.C. 20591 FEB 17 1998 The Honorable Sam BrownbackUnited States […]

NOTE: Click on any of the photos that accompany this article toview larger, higher-resolution images. (For most of us, this is about as close as we’llever get to The Point! —Ed.) Cynthia, my otherwise perfect bride, hates to fly.  Alwayson the lookout for a pretext to lure her into the air, I stumbled across The […]

HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT: On July 17, 1996, at 2031 e.d.t., a Boeing 747131,registration numberN93119, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, about eight miles south ofEast Moriches, New York, after faking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport(JFK). The airplane was being operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight planunder the provisions of Part 121, […]

NOTE: Click on any of the photos that accompany this article to view larger, higher-resolution versions. My wife and I have a time-share condo on St. Thomas (Magens PointResort). Our time-share week is always the last week in January. This is perfect for ussince we live in the Washington D.C. metro area and the weather […]

NOTE: Click on any of the photos that accompany this article toview larger, higher-resolution versions. Afew summers ago, I flew my 1978 Grumman Yankee (affectionately named The Banana Slug)from Watsonville, California, to an AmericanYankee Association (AYA) national convention in Cable, Wisconsin. I then flew toOshkosh for the EAA fly-in which I had never seenbefore. The […]

2/10/98 2150.3A CHG 25 Appendix 1 COMPLIANCE/ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN NO. 98-1SUBJECT: Streamlined process for administrative action 1. DISCUSSION. In August 1996, the Administrator directed that a 90-day aviation safety review be conducted within the FAA. A number of initiatives resulted from the 90-day review including a recommendation that the FAA develop a strategic enforcement plan that […]

NOTE: The Cayman Caravan now has its own web site, which contains all the information andpaperwork you need to sign up for the event. Every June a bunch of small airplanes gather in Key West and fly over Cuba. Cubadoesn’t shoot at them or scramble MiGs. In fact, Cuban controllers actually look forwardto the big […]

Februaryis insurance renewal time for me. I’ve been an airplane owner since 1974 when I realized adream and bought my beloved 1966 Mooney Super 21, N9324M. Since then I have owned threeother airplanes, including my current 1979 Aerostar 601P, N6069N. For the past 23 years,every February has meant calling my agent and getting quotes for […]

Whilemost of us were busy unwrapping Christmas gifts and ringing in 1998, executives atCessna’s single-engine plant in Independence, Kansas, were preoccupied with a ratherdistressing situation. They’d just learned that the Aeroquip-built mufflers installed inhundreds of brand new Cessna 172R Skyhawks and 182S Skylanes had potentially defectivewelds that could allow carbon monoxide contamination of the cabin […]

NBC’s two-hour made-for-TV movie Blackout Effect stars EricStoltz as a dedicated young NTSB investigator, and costars veteran character actor CharlesMartin Smith as an eccentric and emotional air traffic controller. The show starts out very promisingly with lots ofquick sequences intercut between airline cockpits and an ARTCC dubbed “MidwestCenter” located in Illinois. (Can you spell ZAU?) […]