Max Trescott on General Aviation

New Cessna YouTube Video Scores a Homerun

Nothing makes me smile more than seeing good advertising. For example, the other night on television I saw a great commercial for JG Wentworth, a company of which I’d never heard. Yet their use of opera singers and subtitles to communicate about their product was engaging and left me with a clear impression of their name and services after a single viewing. That’s rare in a channel surfing world where I do everything I can to ignore commercials.

So you can imagine that I was grinning from ear-to-ear when I saw...

Wish list for AOPA’s new President Craig Fuller

Apparently it will be official tomorrow. Phil Boyer is retiring and Craig L. Fuller will be the next President of AOPA. A hearty congratulations to them both. Before I get to my wish list for Craig and AOPA, let me talk a little about this important change and the great industry in which many of us are privileged to work.

In the 69 year history of AOPA, there have been only three Presidents, which speaks to the remarkable stability of the organization. Phil started in early 1991, so it will have been about an 18 year run for him, assuming he serves through the end of this year. When I say "run" I mean it. AOPA is the point of the spear for the General Aviation industry, and no job is more important than the President’s. Being AOPA President means being constantly on the run, and Phil’s earned a reputation as a tireless advocate for General Aviation.

As to the greatness of this industry, one needs only to look to...

Cirrus SR22 Perspective and Ladies Watches

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time in a Cirrus SR22 Perspective aircraft. I enjoyed checking out all of the features and noting the differences between this glass cockpit (which is similar to the Garmin G1000) and comparable aircraft, such as the Cessna 400. We talked previously about some of the new features of the Perspective, and I’ll go into even more detail soon.

Call me crazy, but as fun as airplanes are, I always find the people in aviation even more interesting. That was true with Juice Welch, the demo pilot who brought the airplane up to Palo Alto, CA from southern California. Interestingly, I’d previously read about Juice...

Blue Skies for GA and the ICON A5 Light Sport Aircraft

Humans are notoriously bad in forecasting the future. We tend to simply extend recent trend lines in whatever direction they’re currently headed, whether that be up or down. So it’s not surprising that there’s been some doom and gloom associated with the recent spike in gas prices and the twenty-five year decline in the pilot population. While I’d be nuts to predict a drop in gas prices (these have happened, but don’t hold your breath this time) I do see some signposts that suggest the General Aviation skies are not as cloudy and gloomy as some might suggest (I've included a list at the end of this post).

One of those signs arrived over my fax machine two days ago. Mixed in with the offers for health insurance and bogus stock alerts that spam my fax machine was...

Commencement Address: Green Aviation

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind--and very satisfying. Two weeks ago, I watched my oldest daughter graduate from college. Then, a week later, I was the commencement speaker at San Jose State University. The students in their Aviation Division requested me and I was only too happy to speak. I've uploaded ten minutes of the speech, which is apparently the maximum allowed on YouTube. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed giving it. Having talked with a lot of college graduates in the last two weeks, I'm optimistic about the future which will soon be in the hands of this up and coming generation. God Speed.

Cirrus SR22: Coffee, Tea or SmartDeck

Last week, I wrote about the announcement of the Cirrus Perspective glass cockpit for the SR22, and how I had thought they’d be announcing the L-3 SmartDeck instead. My comments were prescient, as just two days later L-3 announced the availability of SmartDeck for the Cirrus SR22, though as a retrofit, rather than a factory option. Now SR22 owners have a choice of three different glass cockpits for their plane! With this much choice, don’t be surprised if Cirrus buys the “Have it Your Way” slogan from Burger King.

As I mentioned last week, Cirrus announced....

New Cirrus Perspective for the SR22

 
Today, Cirrus Design announced that the Cirrus Perspective glass cockpit--think Garmin G1000 Plus--is available as an option to their SR22 aircraft. This is big news for several reasons, and future SR22 buyers will want to consider whether to choose it or the current Avidyne Entegra glass cockpit. They will also want to think about buying Max Trescott's G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook with WAAS.

For pilots who have recently taken delivery on a new SR22 and are concerned...

JetWhine article - CFI, Entrepreneur

"Knowing Max for just a short time has opened my eyes to the fact that I truly miss teaching people how to fly myself." So says Rob Mark in the article he posted yesterday on his www.jetwhine.com blog. JetWhine has always been one of my favorite blogs, so when Mark contacted me a few months ago and suggested that he interview me for the blog, I was happy to do it.

Previous blog articles had talked about CFI issues, such as the high turnover among instructors and the relatively low pay for CFI's employed by flight schools (hmmmm, do you think the two might be related?). I think Mark was wondering how one succeeds in the CFI game given those challenges. The article title, Max Trescott...CFI, Entrepreneur certainly fits with my idea of how one should attack any job. Be an entrepreneur. Seek opportunity, identify needs and provide value. It's no different in flight instruction. You can read Mark's full article here.

Aviation Podcasts

"The world is constantly changing and in the process is creating new ways to enjoy learning about and staying in touch with aviation.” That’s the beginning of an article I wrote on podcasts, the latest way to download and listen to audio on virtually any topic, in the Fall/Winter issue of my free online Pilot Safety News journal.

I've just updated my Max Trescott on General Aviation blog with a new section where you can listen to several of my podcast interviews. The new “My Podcasts” section is in the left column of the blog, just below my photograph. The most recent podcast, released by the Aero News Network on Friday, is an interview they conducted at Sun ‘n Fun a couple of weeks ago.

For the past six months, my daily routine has included...

User Fees Off the Table for 2008!

So says an AOPA website story from Friday, April 24. That is welcome news that’s been a long time in coming. It means that the stalemate in the Senate, over what method to use to fund the FAA for the next four years, appears to be over. There are still many steps needed before an FAA reauthorization bill is actually signed into law, but at least the logjam is broken and progress is being made. It also means that General Aviation can now...