Isabel Goyer

When news broke that the FAA had struck a deal with the City of Santa Monica to rob the aviation world of historic Santa Monica Airport, we assumed we’d somehow missed previous coverage of the agency working with the SoCal and worldwide community of pilots who’ve been fighting for decades to keep SMO open. We […]

I’d feel lucky enough to have shaken the hand of Captain Gene Cernan, who set foot on the moon in December of 1972, the last manned Moon shot. But I got to spend time with him twice, and, yes, at first all I could think about was, “My goodness, this guy has walked on the […]

In many ways 2016 was a challenging year for aviation. Sales were down, not catastrophically, but down nonetheless. The numbers of pilots and active pilots continue to decline, and the prices of new airplanes continue to climb, though the features and build quality continue to climb, as well. None of these circumstances is ideal, but […]

The new BasicMedical will help lots of pilots. Is that enough? I know that it’s not the most popular position to take about one of the biggest liberalizations of flying regulations in decades, often referred to as the driver’s license medical, but let’s talk about managing expectations. Here’s something you won’t hear from many pundits […]

What the acquisition likely means for Diamond’s future in GA. The truth is that increasingly the future of light GA manufacturing in the United States is an airway that goes directly through China. So like it or not, our aviation fortunes are inextricably linked to our nation’s relationship with the Asian world power. With this […]

It’s easy to listen to the naysayers in aviation, but by any measure it’s been a remarkable year for general aviation. From great new airplanes and technological advancements, to innovative companies and regulatory gains, aviation had a banner year in 2106. Here are our picks for the Plane & Pilot Platinum Awards. Piper M600 Piper […]

Here’s why the Feds called BS on Santa Monica’s airport business evictions. Santa Monica Municipal is a historically significant and busy little single-strip city airport, but if the City of Santa Monica had its way, the facility would be a ghost town already. The city officially says it’ll be a park, but there’s good reason […]

When Cirrus earned FAA approval for its SF50 last month, it was a monumental achievement. Here are the reasons that’s so. It’s tempting to dismiss one of the biggest news stories of the year, the FAA’s awarding type certification to Cirrus Aircraft for its SF50 Vision Jet, but we should avoid any such urge to […]

President-elect Trump’s plan to base out of New York City raises tricky security and access questions. When Donald Trump won the United States presidential election in early November, he did so in part because of his promise to “drain the swamp” that he believes Washington, D.C. politics to be. Now it seems that part of […]

Flytenow’s model got shot down by the FAA. Not so fast, says the Internet startup. For decades, private pilots who took along paying friends on trips have been targets for the FAA, which strictly limits a pilot’s right to collect fees from passengers. So when Flytenow started its ride-sharing business a couple of years ago, […]