Reader Mail

The Biggest Aerospace Story Ever (Yawn) Incredible visual phenomena, classified military operations, or alien beings? I have to go with the first two. In addition to having over 25,000 hrs flight time, I probably have an equal amount of time working outdoors in remote regions around the planet, much of it at night. Many of […]

Who You Gonna Call? Good article on SAR coordination. It’s a complicated system with many players but letting everyone know exactly where you are can have a dramatic effect on search and rescue time. I have an ARTEX ME406 in my Maule and carry an ACR ResQLink 400 PLB and Garmin InReach Explorer SE in […]

Why No Love For The B-21? Frustrating as it is, there doesn’t seem to be any real alternative to the endless -and expensive- process of staying up with the defense technology wave. Curt LeMay could just as well have said “it’s ALL interim”. Technological advances can strike deep. The Navy problem Paul mentions was simmering […]

Pattern Wars: Part Deux Great article, Paul. You’ve hit the nail on the head with NORDOs and common-sense safety. If someone can splurge on an iPad for navigation, it’s safe to assume they can also afford a transceiver for communication. Now, on straight-ins—they’re not going away anytime soon. It’s important then, for everyone, especially at […]

Normalizing Deviance Two thoughts: My dad taught me to ride motorcycles, and we rode together often during my formative years. As an inexperienced rider, I often got butterflies before and during a ride–Dekker’s chronic uneasiness. It’s not a particularly comfortable feeling, and I asked my Dad once how long it took before it went away. […]

Not-So-Gentle-T-Storms Informative, tragic, and with that simple photo of the storm front entirely predictable. With a dusty degree in Aeronautics and decades of 121 experience I had to Google the terms Sferics, graupel, and CAPE. I do admit while radar charts are easily intuitive, the divergence chart left me studying, and I would consider it […]

FAA Bill Stalled At Senate Committee I have not seen the bill, but I will opine that term simulator has different meanings to different people. Certainly there should be no concern about level D or even Level C simulators. At the opposite end, Aviation Training Devices, are also useful — in my experience of providing […]

FAA To Require Secondary Flight Deck Barrier This is a response to 9/11. It’s sobering to think that new college students (and even 19-year-olds) today do not remember this event: to them, it is something they learned about in history class and from their parents. By the time this rule change is implemented, many FOs […]

Accident Probe: Deferred Maintenance It is the perfect storm. As airplanes age they need more maintenance but the supply chain is withering as suppliers consolidate or simply close with no other enterprise providing the part. Parts costs are rising at an almost exponential rate exacerbated by the regulatory administrative burden to certify low demand parts […]

The Hangar’s Done. What Can I Put In It? I absolutely agree about the indefinite storage of non-op aircraft. Airports are for flying and fueling and fixing and all those activities keep GA a vital and growing industry. If hangars are bring squatted on by folks who will never fly their dust-covered aluminum hangar furniture […]