Max Trescott on General Aviation

Innovation at the Airlines: Cheaper Tickets in the Standing section?

Would you be willing to pay less for your next airline ticket in exchange for flying in the “Standing Section” of the aircraft? Note that today in not April Fools Day and this is not part of a funny MAD TV skit. It’s a real proposal and, if Ryanair has their way, you’ll get to save money soon by standing on one of their flights.

Ryanair is of course the discount airline in the U.K. that earlier floated the idea of pay toilets on their airliners. Then two weeks ago, they proposed that...

Auto-Landing Capability Demonstrated on GA Aircraft

Today, Aurora Flight Services announced that they have successfully demonstrated fully autonomous takeoffs and landings in their Cessna 337 aircraft. The flights were conducted with a safety pilot and test engineer on board near the company’s Manassas, Virginia headquarters. The company manufactures state-of-the-art unmanned aerial systems and components for the scientific research, defense and homeland security markets. You can see a YouTube video of the aircraft, N427AU, taking off from Warrenton, Virginia.

The technology is expected to be included in...

Airport Security Clear Lanes Closed; Back to the TSA Lanes

Like many ideas, the Clear lane at airport security checkpoints was born of necessity—the long security lines after 9/11—and seemed brilliant at the time. Why not provide a private sector alternative, fast passage through security lines, to the TSA? But last week Clear, owned by Verified Identity Pass Inc, became one more wreck along the Venture Capital highway. Two smaller competitors, FLO and Vigilant, continue to operate.

Originally priced at $99 per year, but increased to $199 last year, the Clear card promised to...

Frustrated with Your GPS? Take our GPS Survey.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” So begins Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. But it’s just as true today if you fly with a GPS receiver. When you know which buttons to push and it does what you want, times are indeed good. But when you struggle with the buttons and can’t get it to do what you want, it can be the worst of times—particularly if you’re IFR and you’re having trouble loading an instrument approach!

In the past, pilots could operate virtually any VOR receiver, even if they’d never seen it before. Today, we have far more advanced capabilities in GPS units, but alas, the capability is useless if a pilot cannot unlock the mysteries of programming the GPS.

So pilots, here's a chance to bare your souls and frustrations. Please take our GPS survey now and share what drives you crazy about using a GPS. Tell us which models of portable or panel mounted GPSs you use most. Then let us know if you’re always able to get it to do what you want, or if there are particular functions you find challenging to use. Finally, let us know what can be done to make it easier for you to operate a GPS. Who knows, maybe we can collectively find a way to tame the GPS once and for all!

Buffalo FL 3407 Pilot's Original Employer Fined $1.3 Million by FAA

It's probably just a coincidence, but the timing couldn’t be more ironic. Aviation news was dominated last week by 3 days of NTSB hearings that sought the cause of the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash that destroyed a home while en route to Buffalo, NY. Throughout the hearings, pictures emerged of pilots who were fatigued and lacked key training, a captain who failed to disclose several checkride failures, and of a two-tier industry where regional airlines pay new-hire pilots little more than minimum wage. Then, late this afternoon, the FAA announced that they are proposing a $1.3 million civil penalty from Florida-based Gulfstream International Airlines, the first airline to employ the flight 3407 captain in 2004 and 2005. The alleged violations include...

Risk Management—How the word “Probably” Influences your Decision Making

[Update: Take our new GPS Survey here] Last year, the FAA asked me to write a series of safety tips they could email to airmen registered at www.faasafety.gov. If you’re unfamiliar with the Web site, go there now to register to receive email notification of safety seminars in your area. You’ll also find useful online courses and information on the FAA WINGS program, a substitute for your flight review, previously known as a BFR.

My Safety Tip #3 brought more comments and...

Free Pilot Study Courses Available for Young Eagles

Inside a General Aviation Institution: Sporty's
When you think of organizations that are working hard to preserve General Aviation, AOPA and EAA immediately come to mind. But Sporty’s, best known for its catalog mailed monthly to virtually every pilot in the U.S., is also working to nurture a vibrant GA pilot population. As founder Hal Shevers said, “I never got the memo saying we have to convert over to just jet fuel.” So it’s not surprising that he’s taking the lead in offering free pilot study courses for teenagers.

I was delighted to spend 24 hours at Sporty’s last week. The staff pulled back the curtain and showed me...

Flight 3407 Crash Info: Latest Details Suggest Loss of Airspeed was Cause

[UPDATE: See Comments for reference to NTSB report for similar crash of Atlantic Coast Airlines in 1994]Last week’s aviation news was dominated by the NTSB hearings that sought the cause of the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash that destroyed a home while en route to Buffalo, NY. Info on crash details was released on the NTSB website and on a YouTube video that shows a reconstruction of the final minutes leading up to the crash. Throughout the hearings, pictures emerged of pilots who were fatigued and lacked key training, a captain who failed to disclose several checkride failures, and of a two-tier industry where regional airlines pay new-hire pilots little more than minimum wage.

When the news initially broke in February, dramatic pictures focused on...

Engine Failure after Takeoff: What to Do & How to Train—Part II

Yesterday, in Part I of this article, I talked about the “Impossible Turn,” the risky maneuver of attempting to turn back to the runway after a takeoff engine failure. The article must have struck a nerve, as I think it generated more reader comments, which you can read here, than any previous article. A couple of commenters were Chief Flight Instructors. One was a regional 2008 CFI of the Year. Some had thousands of flying and teaching hours. Remarkably—and how often do you see this in aviation—they all agreed! If the engine quits on takeoff LAND STRAIGHT AHEAD! It’s not worth risking your life to try to...

Engine Failure after Takeoff: Turn Back to the Runway or Land Straight Ahead?

An email exchange I'll share reminded me of this quote from Rod Machado: "The most important decisions you’ll ever make in an airplane should be made before you enter the airplane." If you haven’t previously thought through and decided what you’ll do if the engine quits on takeoff, I encourage you to take a few minutes right now to think it through. After all, the life you safe will be your own!

The instinct to turn back to the runway is powerful. If you rely upon just instinct, instead of...