Isabel Goyer

As a seeming parting shot in his tenure as chief executive, President Obama took a jab at aviation by singling out the segment for its contribution not to global commerce, understanding and progress, but, alas, pollution. The mechanism behind the move is a little convoluted. In essence, President Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]

The marketplace in aviation is in a strange place. We’re not in a depressed or even a recessed market, and while some trot out the “new normal” as commonplace, I don’t buy it. I think the name of the game is good old competition, though winning at the game takes a smarter approach than ever. […]

This is my 25th Oshkosh airshow event. By EAA standards, 25 isn’t a big number. I’m a relative newbie, in that regard. There are people wandering the show with jackets stitched with patches dating back to before I was born. Oh, to have been able to see all that they’ve seen. Oshkosh is aviation history […]

Like everyone who has been around general aviation for a while, I’m a little skeptical when I hear news of positive regulatory change in the offing. Perhaps I should be a little optimistic from time to time, though. Even if we do face challenges in GA, and we do, I need to remind myself that […]

With the Senate’s overwhelming passage of the FAA Reauthorization bill—the House passed it last week—the temporary funding measure goes to the president’s desk for his signature. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law by July 15. While the bill is a broad funding measure, of greatest interest to us personal transportation pilots […]

A new rule means the outdated FAA 3rd Class Medical could be a thing of the past for many of us. With the coming adoption (no jinx) of the FAA Third Class medical reform bill, I might never have to go through an FAA exam again. And I couldn’t be happier. Here’s how the timetable […]

There are probably some pilots who want aviation to be a small world, who’d like nothing better than to make being a pilot and owning an airplane an exclusive club. Let me be clear: We are not those people. We want flying to be open to everyone who wants to fly. It won’t be easy […]

The ACS standards that are now in effect for both knowledge and practical testing are, in theory, a great advance for the aviation community. The reality is a bit more complicated than that. It’s not easy for me to admit that there’s a downside to the change. For many years, I’ve loudly complained to anyone […]

The biggest threat to the popular legislation is a proposal to privatize air traffic control backed by a Congressman with a personal relationship with an airline lobbyist. Here we go again, trying to get a pilot’s medical certification proposal past the finish line. Whether it happens or not, kudos to the U.S. Senate, which earlier […]

The new Plane & Pilot stands for a lot of things the old brand did, including our embrace of low-and-slow and alternative forms of committing aviation. Beyond that, we stand for a few more beliefs that bear comment, some of which are right in line with what P&P has always believed and shouted that fact […]