FBOs

It is 1300 on Wednesday, July 29, and Wittman Fieldis officially closed to Oshkosh-bound pilots who had intendedon camping here. The inn is full, and the “No Vacancy”sign has been hung out-overnighting aircraft are being divertedto Appleton and Fon du Lac. EAA President Tom Poberezny neverlikes to turn weary travelers away, but is happy at […]

AVweb spoke with EAA president Tom Poberezny a week before AirVentureOshkosh 1998: AVweb: So, AirVenture Oshkosh is nigh upon us. Poberezny: Yes, actually we feel that is has started already withthe people already arriving AVweb: How crowded is it this early out? Poberezny: Usually the 4th of July is kind of the kick off. Earlyarrivals […]

Jon Jordan has overseen major changes in medical certification which went into effectin September, 1996. He also appointed the first new Director of the Civil Aviation MedicalInstitute (CAMI) in over two decades, Dr. Warren Silberman. I had the opportunity tointerview Dr. Jordan at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Dr. Jordan, EAA’s Aeromedical Council holds a forum at […]

Jack Mark remembers the hot summer days when he was a kid in theworking class neighborhoods on the south side of Milwaukee. The depression of the 30’s was in full swing; hand-me-down shoes were a way of life, flying was something limited to the super-wealthy, and an afternoon at a city park was considered a […]

It’s like the tattooed biker my Mom always warnedme to avoid. “It’s for your own good,” she would say. “Something like that will only bring you grief.” MaybeDelmar Benjamin’s mother never told him to stay away from thingsthat would hurt him. Or, maybe she did and he just wasn’t listening. Benjamin is a lanky blond […]

One of the exciting things about the EAAAirVenture Oshkosh is meeting some of the old timers of experimental aviation such as KenFlaglor. Flaglor, now 72, holds “court” at the communications building atWittman Regional Airport during the flying and has done so at all the EAA conventionsexcept two, the very first and the convention in Milwaukee […]

Flight schools have always experienced a substantially higherdrop out rate than almost any other educational endeavor. Thisproblem has plagued the entire aviation community for as longas I can remember, and, believe me, that’s one very long time.We can speculate as to the causes for this phenomenon foreverwithout reaching any firm conclusions. Basically, there are twokinds […]

Fair warning! I’m actually going to say some very nice things about the FAA in this column. If you don’t like this sort of thing, skip this column and comeback for the next one. Yes, yes, I’m of sound mind (well, as much as I ever am), and I am not being coerced, this is […]

Way back when the CAA (predecessor of the FAA) decreed that forty hours of training and practice wasa sufficient amount of experience and training for the PrivatePilot Certificate, it no doubt was. In fact, it was easy to preparea student for the responsibility of the Private Certificate withinthe allotted forty hours, thirty-five under FAR Part […]

You know you’re in trouble when a memo from the chief pilots starts out “It has come to the attention of this office…” Well, the FAA may be in trouble with me, because it has come to my attention that it may be official policy at (at least) one FSDO that simple failure to time […]