On Course

We’re just a couple of weeks away from Flying Aviation Expo and the excitement for Southern California’s premier aviation event, planned for October 15-17 in Palm Springs, is growing by the day. If you haven’t made up you mind whether you’re coming, here is a list of reasons why you have to be there. • […]

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to make history. For better or worse, general aviation is on the precipice of transformative change unlike anything the industry has seen in its history. Maybe we don’t comprehend the scope of the change that is coming, or perhaps we feel there’s little as individuals we can do to affect […]

If you could pick any era in the admittedly brief history of powered flight in which to be a pilot, what year or decade would you choose? Would you desire to be a pioneer of flight, using your unfair knowledge of aerodynamics and aircraft systems to build and pilot early machines that could fly circles […]

Flying isn’t safe. I will admit that. But it’s less dangerous today than it ever has been. It will be safer still five years from now. We should be celebrating this victory — but cautiously. Because we never want to slip back into our old habits and return to the bad old days when flying […]

Over the last few days I’ve been getting a lot of advice from a lot of people who I would say are a lot smarter than me and who have a lot more experience, in aviation and in life. It’s gratifying to know there are accomplished folks who are willing to take the time to […]

Lately I’ve grown convinced that it’s only a matter of time before a rogue quadracopter collides with an airplane or helicopter in flight, possibly sending innocent victims plummeting to their deaths. For a few brief moments last month, I worried I might be among the first casualties. Knowing what I do now, I probably should […]

A highly critical report released yesterday by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General outlining serious shortcomings with the FAA’s progress on ADS-B is embarrassing for the agency, coming as it does on the heels of pronouncements that the $6.5 billion program is progressing just fine and the 2020 ADS-B mandate is a sure-fire, locked-and-loaded firm […]

Editor’s note: Capt. Sullenberger contacted us after publication of this article to clarify that he did call “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” immediately after birds struck his Airbus A320 on January 15, 2009, but his radio transmission was stepped on by a simultaneous call by the air traffic controller and so was never broadcast. The final NTSB […]

CNN owned the coverage of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 this past spring with its wall-to-wall commentary from experts like our own Contributing Editor Les Abend, a highly experienced Boeing 777 captain, and Editor-in-Chief Robert Goyer, but rival cable channel Fox News has a potent new weapon in its arsenal for covering aviation […]

There’s been a lot of nervous hand wringing over the idea of letting more recreational pilots self-certify that they are fit for flight by forgoing the formal FAA medical process. Christopher Hart, the acting head of the National Transportation Safety Board, told lawmakers recently he is “very concerned about pilots flying without adequate medical standards,” […]