Rob Mark

The argument is an old one: Can we teach judgment to pilots, or is the aviation industry left to simply search for pilots who already possess solid problem-solving skills? I’ve always thought the answer was somewhere in between, especially since FAA examiners like to ask applicants questions based on scenarios those pilots might encounter later […]

For bizjet owners, an aircraft being grounded can be a devastating event and, in most cases, it is critical to get the airplane back in operation as soon as possible. To help make that happen for the more than 2,800 jets Gulfstream has delivered worldwide, the company has launched a dedicated aircraft-on-ground (AOG) center at […]

A few weeks ago, a Frontier Airbus A320 on approach to Las Vegas was overflown by a hobby drone, action that was captured by the UAS’ camera and later uploaded to the Internet. The aviation industry was not amused, nor were pilots, safety advocates and of course the FAA, which is investigating the incident. Realizing […]

Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’YkgP5JWyRcJUVNKKqEnxBg’,sig:’Bg8ynAYthlI9guwGcgOSIDIVfGpiLXPaLCnSlEWh9X4=’,w:’1000px’,h:’583px’,items:’AB67521′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })}); The pilot training system in the United States has remained essentially unchanged for the past 50 or 60 years, with just a few notable exceptions. New technologies have added complexity to the training process, while loss of control accidents have focused everyone on how much we actually […]

Some pilots believe a great aircraft, like a fine wine, only improves with age. Others turn up their nose at the thought of flying an airplane based on a decades-old design. Passing up a Beechcraft Baron G58 simply because the first Baron flew in 1962 would be a major mistake. The G58 is definitely not […]

Supporters and opponents of efforts to sever the nation’s air traffic control system from the FAA were surprised Tuesday night when Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) announced he was dropping his controversial ATC privatization plan and removing it from any further House consideration, at least for now. Shuster’s proposal to create a not-for-profit corporation to operate […]

Although the Airbus-supplied video confirms less than one minute of continuous self-piloted flight, the egg-shaped Vahana electric aircraft did fly on January 31, 2018 in Pendleton, Oregon. Dubbed Alpha One, the vehicle reached a height of 16 feet before returning to the ground and completed a second flight the following day. The Vahana project was […]

Just because some business aircraft meet the technical specifications of Level 4 Automation guidelines doesn’t necessarily mean all the flight crews operating these sophisticated systems completely understand the procedures they’re asking the computers to fly. Recently, two airports separated by some 2,500 miles have experienced nearly the same number of pilot deviations on respective RNAV […]

Lots of aviation folks are Twitter geeks simply for the news value. Chicago-area pilot and CFI Rod Rakic added a unique explanation. “Twitter is like the common traffic advisory frequency. Transmit in the blind and you might connect with someone who finds value in your message.” For Rakic, co-founder of Open Airplane (@openairplane), an unusual […]

The Wall Street Journal ran a Valentine’s Day editorial that had nothing to do with love, at least not with folks on either side of the ATC privatization debate. The piece, “Private Jet-Setters Against Better Air Travel,” took the National Business Aviation Association to task for blocking reforms of the nation’s air traffic control system […]