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Lockheed AFSS I am in agreement with the AFSS controller from AOO AFSS (AVmail, Feb. 14). Mr. Boyer of AOPA says the performance parameters are guaranteed. By whom? If they aren’t met, who are you going to complain to? If you’re not satisfied with the response to your complaint, what’s your recourse? AFSS won’t be […]

Much of aviation involves black and white decision-making; we have to do many of the tasks we do in a closely prescribed way or risk dying. There is no appeal or plea bargain for violation of a law of aerodynamics. If we are in a single-engine airplane and the engine quits under about 500 feet […]

CASE NO. 29,385 INTERSTATE SOUTHWEST, LTD., Plaintiff, v. avco corporation, TEXTRON LYCOMING RECIPROCATING ENGINE DIVISION OF AVCO CORPORATION, Defendants. IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF GRIMES COUNTY, TEXAS 278th JUDICIAL DISTRICT CHARGE TO THE JURY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY: This case is submitted to you by asking questionsabout the facts, which you must decide […]

Judging by the inquiries I get from aircraft owners, it’s a frustratingly common situation: You get a call from the shop that’s annualing your airplane, and the news isn’t good. The IA found something wrong and it’s going to be expensive to fix.Because you’re a savvy and maintenance-involved owner, you ask the IA for the […]

FSS Privatization FAA mismanagement and union “whining” put the final coffin nails in a government-run FSS program (NewsWire, Feb. 7). I am pleased to see that the FSS Union/Harris Corp. proposal was not accepted. Harris was the main contractor in OASIS (the government replacement for Model 1). “New blood” is needed and hopefully Lockheed Martin […]

Odyssey Aviation Publications The student pilot was learning to fly in a Piper Cherokee when he saw his first Cessna 310. He decided on the spot that he was going to own one. During a subsequent discussion with friends he was told that if he planned on being a commercial pilot he should skip the […]

After a tremendously successful Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) Assisted Special Issuance (AASI) program for Third-Class medical certificates, the FAA’s chief physician, Federal Air Surgeon Jon Jordan, M.D., recently decided to expand the program to include Second- and First-Class medicals. This is great news, both for AMEs who have spent a lot of time with their […]

T-37 Vs. Air-Tractor It would seem to me from reading the article (NewsWire, Jan. 31) that both aircraft were at fault, The AT502 was at 5000 ft. and unless he was under IFR (which he wasn’t) then he was at the wrong altitude, as we all know. I don’t know to much about military reg’s; […]

I spend an awful lot of time trying to explain how the system is supposed to work. Those explanations are often at odds with what people have experienced first-hand. This leaves a lot of people confused. It just leaves me frustrated.But no matter how conscientious we are, things can and do go wrong. As a […]

This is the seventh in a series of excerpts that began with Chapter One. Chapter Thirteen: Crosswind Circuits A very stiff breeze was blowing as I drove out to Dairy Flat, but I have given up hope of finding an ideal piece of weather for a lesson. I try to hold on to the thought […]