Search Results for: general aviation inc

Most pilots never need to eke maximum range out of the airplane. For others long-range flying is the norm, the reason for having an airplane in the first place. There are many considerations-some objective, some subjective-when youre planning a maximum-range flight. Lets define maximum-range flying as any flight planned to travel near the maximum distance the airplane can fly with the fuel on board, and have legal fuel reserves. When we think of max-range flying in light airplanes were usually thinking about a flight of three to seven hours, depending on characteristics of the specific airplane. If you take off with minimal fuel but are planning to use most of what youve got, however, even a short flight entails some maximum-range thinking.

An in-flight fire is most pilots greatest fear, surpassing even a mid-air collision. Although relatively rare, the unique combination of combustible materials and ignition sources available in the typical personal airplane means an in-flight fire must be dealt with quickly and decisively. Doing so usually means disabling systems to deprive the fire of its fuel or ignition sources, and employing a fire extinguisher to smother it. A quick landing, even if off-airport, may be necessary. The problem? Our cockpits feature an abundance of materials capable of sustaining a fire. Carpeting, insulation, upholstery and paper charts are present in even the most basic airplane. This is true even if every scrap of fabric has passed an FAA-approved burn test. Throw in a fuel line or two-whether routed through the fuel selector, flowing via a capillary line to a fuel pressure gauge, or resulting from the designers basic need to move fuel from the tanks to an engine-and youve got another, much more combustible material.

With an amendment last week to the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act, the aviation industry will now be able to review and provide input on proposed TSA security measures. Under amendment to H.R.2200, a new Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC) will be formed. It will include a group of aviation industry stakeholders and a general […]

Redundancy is a good thing. If one component fails to do its job a second one can take over and provide the needed function. Thinking about redundancy, I considered my gluttonous appetite for aviation information. I subscribe to a handful of aviation magazines. I get Business & Commercial Aviation (BCA) and Aviation International News to […]

On June 1 Bonnier Corporation purchased Flying magazine and four other titles from Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. The writers, editors and staff of Flying were all transferred to the new company so all of the familiar names and columns will continue. Bonnier is a huge media company based in Sweden. Over the past few years […]

Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano got an earful from no fewer than five general aviation groups. The aviation groups were unified in their resistance to the Transportation Security Administration’s plan to require badges for GA pilots to access certain areas of airports where there is airline service. Each airport would be responsible for […]

Congress has confirmed President Obama’s choice of Randy Babbitt as new FAA Administrator. Babbitt is former head of the Air Line Pilots Association and an aviation consultant. Besides living from hand to mouth through a series of temporary funding bills, the FAA has also operated under acting administrators Robert Sturgell (September 2007 to January 2009) […]

Last week, the House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 915, the 2009 version of an FAA funding authorization bill. The legislation is said to be virtually identical to the House bill that passed in 2007, only to be defeated in the Senate. Like the 2007 House proposal, this year’s funding bill does not […]

As we enter the summer fun flying season, there might be a time when someone suggests you try some spur-of-the-moment formation flying. On a VFR trip, flying within loose sight range of a friend or two can be fun. But any closer than that isn’t smart without formal training and practice — for all the […]

“No. Hell no.” is the way one skeptic describes the reaction of most general aviation stakeholders to a proposed FAA redesign of New York airspace. As currently proposed (it changes subtly from meeting to meeting), the plan calls for extending Class B airspace out another five miles and lowering the floor from 3,000 feet to […]