Opinion

The hero of Southwest Flight 1380 is the subject of controversy, for all the wrong reasons.

As a pilot, I’ve always been a pretty pragmatic type, and I’ve always tried to find the most efficient way to get something done without sacrificing safety and without spending too much. “Pragmatic” and “cheap” aren’t synonyms, but let’s face it: they’re closely related. Aside from money, the most important thing to a pilot is […]

The factors that got left out overshadow the conclusions!by a lot. The FAA released its forecast for aviation over the next 20 years, and it’s about as good a product as we can realistically hope to see. That is, it’s based on the safest assumptions and fails to take into account advances in technology that […]

The old dial-up service is on its way out. But, oh, how it changed our lives for the better. The FAA’s coming elimination of the original computerized weather briefing and flight-planning tool is a sad thing, though in this case, it was the right time and the right thing to do. The FAA established the […]

Here’s who to thank and why it likely went down as it did. Last night House Transportation Chair Bill Shuster (R, PA) withdrew the amendment to FAA reauthorization pushing for turning the FAA’s air traffic control functions over to a private corporation. The bill—the Senate has already passed its version—once passed will then move on […]

By ending production of the highly regarded but light selling TTx, Textron Aviation might be showing its long term plans for other models. When Textron Aviation announced that it had ended production of the TTx single-engine piston speedster, the news was greeted with little shock, and most of the commentary centered on the angle that […]

Sometimes the answer to all of life’s problems can be found in that one place your worries can’t get to. It’s been a rough week for me. It happens. I’m lucky in that there’s nothing unsolvable or that can’t be out-waited, but still, these things can cause stress. There’s a lot of talk about how […]

You won’t believe the lineup of aviation achievement represented by this year’s nominees. Here’s who’s going to win and who’s going to lose and why. And the winner is . . .? When the Collier Trophy committee meets to pick a 2017 winner of its annual award, which recognizes the top real-life aviation (or space) […]

The annual recreational aviation show in central Florida had one major problem that no one could escape, but customers and vendors turned into well stirred lemonade. The Sebring Sport Aviation Expo wrapped up last week in Central Florida, and it was in some ways the weirdest show I’ve attended, and as you might imagine, I’ve […]

In a panel discussion at Sebring, I spoke with some sport aviation experts about the state of certification, and by the end of the forum we’d come to some interesting conclusions. At the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring on Thursday, I sat down for a conversation about certification with sport aviation veterans Sebastien Heintz, president […]