Reader Mail

Airliner Anti-Missile System In regards to Ed Connely’s assertions that an explosive bullet fired into a full tank of fuel would cause an explosion (AVmail, Apr. 3), I was once present at an incident where a pencil flare was accidentally fired through the deck of a helicopter and into a fuel tank full of JP-5. […]

Vintage Aircraft Category It may be worthwhile for EAA & AOPA to take a look at the French system for “orphaned” aircraft (NewsWire, Mar. 27). They are able to keep aircraft flying where the manufacturer has folded, and thus parts are no longer available. Basically, maintenance becomes owner responsibility, and is managed similar to kit […]

Taxi Into Position And Hold Regarding the Question of the Week about Taxi Into Position and Hold (QOTW, Mar. 23):My passenger counted 13 airplanes waiting for takeoff during one busy afternoon at Addison airport in Texas (KADS — single, 7000-foot runway, under DFW Class B). Who knows how many it would have been without Taxi […]

User Fees Thanks for your great article [on user fees; NewsWire, Mar. 13]. I am consistently amazed about how intensely they (the airlines and the FAA) keep pushing a bad idea. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but are we seriously taking advice from companies whose business plan was something along the lines of, “Lose […]

Taxi Into Position and Hold — Not! I would like to inform you that taking away TIPH is going to cause delays (NewsWire, Mar. 9). Places like TEB airport are going to have it the worst, where staffing is way below the numbers. They cannot open up the position needed in order for the local […]

(In)Security There is a trend that is happening at a lot of small general aviation airports. There is so much extreme security that it is hard for pilots to get to their own airplane, which tends to make the pilots so mad that they don’t care about any pilot-watch programs or security measures.Douglas Humble ATC […]

Anti-Airliner Bazookas Regarding the story about tomato threats (NewsWire, Feb. 20):I thought I’d let you know about a similar thing, which happened at the end of the 1960’s in Munich, Germany.There was this guy who became annoyed with these airliners that flew in and out of the international airport in Munich. So he built himself […]

Cheney’s “No-Fly-Zone” The Vice President’s “No-Fly-Zone” has been a sore point among many pilots.I think it’s well-deserved and should definitely continue, even after he leaves public office. Especially after last weekend’s shooting incident. Not only will the Vice President personally shoot anything airborne, he’ll now even go after moving ground targets too.Darrel Toepfer Global Flyer […]

Night Rescue Your report on the angst among the officials involved in the rescue of the two young people lost near Paradise is typical of the “professionals” (NewsWire, Feb. 6) As a long-time professional helicopter pilot, I can say that any number of pilots can do what the Sheriff’s Department and the CHP were unwilling […]

User Fees We have user fees: Gas tax provides millions based on usage (NewsWire, Jan. 30); meanwhile they squander … $75 million on questionable rehab at MKC. Plenty of money; let’s have some accountability instead of having a tax on a tax.John Grissinger Retired at 32? It’s a little unusual to be a “retired” Marine […]