Opinion

How have such tragic crashes affected other airplane programs? Not long after the news broke that an Icon A5 had suffered a fatal accident, observers began asking the question, “what does the crash mean to the company’s future?” The sensitivity of asking such a thing so soon after a tragic crash notwithstanding, the question is […]

BasicMed is here, and there’s real interest from pilots in using it. While it’s not everything we asked for, here’s how a lot of pilots can benefit. I’ve been critical of the FAA’s new alternative medical certification process known as BasicMed, and for good reason. As far pilots’ rights are concerned, it’s not as good a […]

The Eclipse jet pioneer predicted a nationwide network of short-haul air transport. Maybe we’re finally seeing its birth. In Dallas this week, ride sharing giant Uber held a gathering for people who see a future world in which people are whisked to and fro in small autonomously operated vehicles. Yes, just like the Jetsons of […]

How private is your application information, and can the FAA use it against you? We live in a polarized world, so I wasn’t too surprised that responses were bunched on both sides of the spectrum regarding my disappointment at the “driver’s license” medical we got in the form of BasicMed. While some readers applauded my […]

Are you ready for the next big thing, a new way to see the aviation data we all rely on to fly safely and surely? You probably should be, because it’s coming. At Sun ’n Fun Seattle Avionics’ Steve Podradchik showed me the coolest gadget I’ve seen in years. An iPhone. Okay, the iPhone wasn’t […]

As the details of the new third class FAA medical came to light, I made the mistake of letting my enthusiasm for the overall concept color my reaction to the actual rule. The new regs, BasicMed, were supposed to represent the FAA’s regulatory translation of what we really wanted: to get rid of the Third […]

A new plane, a new season and lots of reasons to go gaga over planes. There’s been so much noise politically in aviation these past few months that we’ve been so busy protecting our freedom to fly against some very real threats that it’s been too easy to forget the flying part, which is, after […]

President Trump’s budget proposal threatens the lifeblood of General Aviation. Over the past couple of days, the general aviation community has responded to a common threat to our way of flight. Earlier this week President Trump issued his budget, and while there is no shortage of controversy associated with it, for those of us who […]

Like most of you, I think of avgas in a very one-dimensional way, regarding our old true blue 100LL as the only aviation gasoline, at least until a 100LL alternative hits the pumps in a few years. But it turns out that’s not really true. There’s another approved aviation fuel for sale today, Swift Fuels’ […]

The CES of aircraft featured few new products but lots of interesting questions about aviation’s digital future. The 60th edition of the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) trade show in New Orleans got underway on Monday, and the first day of the show was an eye opener, but not for the usual reasons. Usually at this […]