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I was wandering the terminal awaiting my daughter’s arrival from the city on the other side of the continent that she saw fit to move to at her very first opportunity after graduating high school. I know that regular people aren’t allowed to go through security and await their loved ones at the gate.I had […]

As we’ve covered extensively in the past few weeks, the U.S. government is preparing to make the restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., a permanent fixture, with permanent rules aimed at safeguarding the Capitol regardless of the threat level from terrorism, war or domestic unrest. The area covered by the zone is more than 2,000 square […]

Eminent Domain If the Dallas Cowboy’s and the city fathers of Arlington, Texas, can justify eminent domain to purchase land to build their new stadium, why can’t it be used for a new airport (NewsWire, Aug. 15)? Recently we have seen eminent domain used to build a new mall in Richland Hills, Texas; now it […]

CS&A Aviation Insurance(This article originally appeared in Aviation Insurance & Risk Management, Summer 2005) Are you a professional pilot who provides paid pilot services as an independent contractor to an aircraft owner? If so, what kind of insurance protection is available to you? Many aircraft owners use contract pilots as primary flight crew members or […]

Standard phraseology is the product of years of experience and has been developed to combine precision, brevity, and audibility. … Talk slowly and speak distinctly, do not run words together. Make the listener hear all you say the first time you say it.”That sounds like a quote straight out of the AIM, doesn’t it? It […]

In the history of general aviation manufacturing, some airplanes were instant hits and destined to endure. The Beechcraft Bonanza is a classic example.Others seemed like good ideas at the time, but either the market timing was wrong or the models just didnt have the sales appeal the factory had hoped for. The Mooney PFM qualifies […]

Politicians Of The World United After the suicide of a pilot with an ultralight plunging onto the green between the Kanzleramt (office of the German Chancellor — like the White House) and the Reichstag (parlament of Germany), the government decided to close the airspace inside of the inner circle of the S-Bahn (railway for public […]

No doubt you’ve read plenty here and elsewhere about the 2005 edition of EAA’s AirVenture — something we who have to work it just call “Oshkosh” — and I’m happy to add to the coverage because, for fans of internal combustion, it was a pretty good show.Yes, it’s true that Honda’s nifty jet, the pair […]

FAA User Fees The Administrator is at it again! For months we have heard that GA pilots are facing “user fees.” This time Ms. Blakey is using controllers as the excuse (NewsWire, Jul. 29). She says the salaries paid to controllers is too high and trust fund monies too low.Well, of course trust fund monies […]

As is the case with most of us here in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport, my involvement with state aeronautics commissions had, for years, been limited to paying a small annual fee and receiving a nice book that gave information on all of the public-use airports in the state, as well as an […]