Blog

The agency’s blindsiding GA on its Santa Monica capitulation was more than the alphabets could take.  A couple of weeks ago when the FAA made the surprise announcement—“surprise” as in Pearl Harbor and not Happy Birthday, by the way—we weighed in that the move was something we’d never seen the agency do before. Our suggestion, […]

3/8/17 UPDATE: We’re delighted to share the news that King Schools’ co-founder John King has received his FAA medical certificate from the FAA. In an email to Plane & Pilot, King wrote that getting his ticket after a years-long battle was a surprise—of the most pleasant variety, we’re certain. The legendary aviation educator got his […]

The strategic decision by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association to accept drone pilots (and owners?) into the largest and most effective GA advocacy organization is troubling. It’s no secret that the numbers of GA pilots is declining, so AOPA’s numbers have as well. Of course, the fewer members, the less clout and the less […]

Did the financial news icon get this one right or make the usual mistakes? The venerable Wall Street Journal is a publication that sometimes gets it right with aviation and sometimes gets it really, really wrong. This time the subject was a dicey one: how to think about CEOs who fly light planes. As it […]

With the FAA’s adoption of Part 23 reform, a whole new era in general aviation development begins. What does it mean to us as consumers and to the industry? How Does It Work? The new system will work like a more regulated form of what the Light Sport Aircraft regs introduced a decade ago. The […]

Is privatizing ATC a backroom deal in progress? When it comes to what they might mean to aviation, the Trump administration’s policy moves these first few weeks have been hard to read. That said, there are hints that GA could be hit hard with new fees and limitations. The source of the concern lies in […]

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 […]