Max Trescott on General Aviation

Another Airport Saved! Reid-Hillview off the Chopping Block--for Now

Like the TSA, we should assign a colored threat level for every airport in the country, based upon the current level of threat posed to the airport. If we did, San Jose's Reid-Hillview Airport would have been operating all year at a Level 4, Orange, High Threat of Airport Closure. As we reported earlier, that's because the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to study the legal issues and potential financial benefits associated with closing the airport and developing the land. It's the third time in 25 years that the airport has been in danger of closing.

Yesterday, pilots in Silicon Valley...

Oshkosh Finale: the Photos

The Oshkosh photos, all 56 of them, are now loaded. You can find them by clicking here or going to the lower right of the blog page. There are a number of great aerial views from a Bell 47 helicopter and a Ford Trimotor that give a good feel for the enormity of AirVenture. There are also some great views from the new control tower. With this, we conclude our Oshkosh coverage and fall back to our normal 3 or 4 posts a month, depending upon what aviation tidbits catch our attention. I hope you've enjoyed the coverage and that it motivates you to go to AirVenture in 2009! 

Oshkosh Update--Flying a 1929 Ford Trimotor

Saturday was a completely unscheduled day and it was fun to just wander around and take in the random wonders of AirVenture. The day started by meeting up with Paul Plack of www.aero-news.net. If you’re not familiar with Paul’s work, then you’re missing out on an informative and fun part of general aviation. Paul spent more than 25 years in front of the microphone at a variety of radio stations around the country. He now applies his creative energy to understanding all facets of general aviation and produces daily podcasts for Aero-News Network. The guy is a pro and I highly recommend his podcasts.

We recorded a podcast related to...

Oshkosh Update Day 4 – Owning the Night

Another fabulous day and night at Oshkosh. But is there any other kind?

The day started out with official pictures in the EAA Museum with the four General Aviation Award winners in front of the new plaque that lists all of the past and current winners. Then there were the unofficial pictures. I’ve chosen to post one of those, which in this case shows a son and his proud mother. Mom took flying lessons as a teen, though never followed the footsteps of her father and older brother who completed their private licenses. So naturally it was mom who used to drive me to the airport at age 15, before I had a driver’s license, so that I could take flying lessons. I’m proud of you too mom and thanks for coming to share in the fun with me at Oshkosh this week.

Our awards also included...

Oshkosh Update—The View from the Top

It's going to be hard to top today--Oshkosh just keeps getting better and better. The day started out with the Master CFI breakfast, which usually draws around 50 of the approximately 550 Master CFIs. It’s a leisurely affair that affords lots of time to renew acquaintances with other CFI’s and friends in the media who attend.

For at least five years running, the keynote speaker has been...

Oshkosh Update—CFI of the Year

Day 2 was another great day in Oshkosh. But you’ve probably figured out that for me every day in Oshkosh is a great day. Actually there was the night in

Photo: Acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell

2005 when a storm swept through about 9PM. I came back to my campsite and everything was gone. No tent, no cot or sleeping bag, nothing. I started asking around and people talked about watching a tent blow up the side of an RV and then over the top of it. Apparently it was quite a sight--I wish I’d seen it. After searching about a half hour I found my tent about a quarter of mile away in a ditch along side of a road. A passerby helped load the tent in the back of their pickup truck and drove it back to my campsite. By 11PM I was snug in my tent and smiling again. It’s hard to be upset for long when you’re settled in with tens of thousands of other happy people reveling in Oshkosh, which is really a synthesis of the best there is in aviation. If there were a Woodstock for pilots (without the bad connotations), this would be it.

I started the day...

Oshkosh Update--It doesn't Get Much Better than This!

Just as children eagerly await Christmas, I can’t wait each year to wake up and find that I’m in Oshkosh. If you’ve never been to Oshkosh, and you wonder how busy people manage to squeeze it into their schedule each year, let me explain how simple it is. Just start planning for it immediately. Mark if off the calendar for 2009 and then guard the time, as there will be at least a dozen activities that will compete for that time. Just keep saying no and then do what I’m doing now--smile because you’re in Oshkosh! Here’s a quick sampling of the past few weeks and my first full day at Oshkosh.

Friends and blog readers will note that I’ve been invisible...

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...