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Going Direct by Robert Goyer

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About Robert Goyer

In Going Direct, Robert Goyer airs his thoughts on some of the most controversial aviation issues of the day.

Robert has been with Flying since 1994. During that time he was written and photographed hundreds of feature stories on a wide variety of topics. Read full bio >

EBACE 2012: Going Global
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EBACE 2012

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I’m at EBACE in Geneva this week. Geneva, Switzerland, not Geneva, New York. This is the 12th annual EBACE, and it was an idea that was greeted with a huge collective yawn when the idea was broached two decades ago. The first shows were cozy affairs, small gatherings of parochial bizav concerns coming together as much out of convenience as anything.

Deciding to Have an Accident
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Most pilots that I know have decided at one point in their flying careers to make a huge smoking crater in the earth. Although I don’t typically advertise the fact, the truth is, I’ve done it a few times, myself, though not for many years. Who knows, maybe you have too. After all, what could be more exciting than ending the day in a smoking heap of wreckage? What fun.  

Part 23: Desert of Innovation
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In the May issue of Flying I argued that it was high time for revisions to Part 23 certification standards for light airplanes, a piece that, based on our email response, resonated with our readership. You agreed that it was time for the FAA to get real with Part 23. The amazing thing is that it’s happening. As we speak some of the best and brightest minds in aviation are working together to re-imagine Part 23 with the goal to slash the price of admission. Godspeed.

What Jet Pilots Don't Get about the Cirrus Jet
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With Cirrus Aircraft’s announcement that it has gotten funding — nearly $150 million, by some accounts — for its single-engine jet, there’s great joy in Duluth, and rightly so. I’ve spoken with a couple of Cirrus reps on the subject, and they’re absolutely thrilled by the prospect, and that’s not because they’re supposed to be acting thrilled. They’re excited because their prospects are excited by the jet, so much so that they get asked by a high percentage of their customers when they can get a jet; a lesser percentage puts money down on the jet, flight unseen.

Magic Safety Mirror
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Self-assessment is key to becoming a safer pilot.

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If you’re honest about aviation safety you’ve got to constantly ask yourself what you can do to cut down on the risks inherent in flying. Admittedly, taking a hard look in the magic mirror of safety and reflecting honestly upon what you see is not an easy thing to do. It might be one that pilots as a group are inherently bad at. After all, we tend to be confident self-starters who have gotten where we are not so much by questioning what we were doing but by forging ahead despite our doubts, reflecting more on the possible rewards than the risks inherent in what we do.

I Learned about Flying from I Learned about Flying from That Rejections
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One of my duties here at Flying is to review submissions for one of our most popular columns, the reader-written self-confession piece I Learned about Flying from That, a piece we’ve referred to internally for longer than the 18 years I’ve been here as ILAFT (pronounced “I Laughed.”) Often there’s nothing laughable about it. As you know, some of the stories our pilot authors tell are downright scary. I’ve got one or two such stories of my own to tell. I’m sure you do too.

Hunting Sun 'n Fun Bargains
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These days everybody is looking for a bargain. The bad news, in part, is the grueling economic downturn, now fully entrenched in its fourth year, is still here, and aviation has suffered. There are also continuing high fuel prices (though our European readers might chuckle at $5-plus fuel being considered anything but dirt cheap), a depleted new airplane marketplace and an FAA that sometimes seems more intent on making a profit off of pilots than in helping make aviation safer and more accessible.

The Elements of Flying
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I was departing from a Dallas reliever airport the other day — yes, I am being purposely vague — in a very cool, very hot airplane — yup, more of the vagueness — when my here-to-remain anonymous flying buddy in the right seat mentioned that most operators of that particular airplane flip on the yaw damper shortly after takeoff, a comment he punctuated with a pointed and friendly push of the button labeled “YD.”

Blowing Smoke on Certification Standards
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Icon A5

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When I read the headline from Icon Aircraft: “A5 Achieves Historic Safety Milestone,” I was curious to see what this was all about. The press release went on to make this statement: “ICON is proud to announce that the A5 will be the first production aircraft in history to be designed to and completely comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s full-envelope Part 23 spin-resistance standards once production starts.”

Wow. I wasn’t aware that the Icon A5 was going to go through FAA Part 23 certification. Bravo for them.

Function not Form
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I'm always a bit amused when I read studies on Technologically Advanced Airplanes, so called TAAs. Never mind that the authors of the acronym got it wrong and called them "technically" advanced airplanes, an embarrassing error in diction, and never mind the fact that they created a definition so broad that a 1959 Cessna 172 with a Garmin GNS430 in it would qualify.

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