Max Trescott on General Aviation

General Aviation Needs an Aggressive Safety Goal

It's time for the FAA to set an aggressive goal, comparable to the ones they set for airliners, for reducing the general aviation fatal accident rate. Without one, senseless accidents will continue, needless lives will be lost, and potential new pilots will be scared away.

The general aviation safety record has improved over the years due to the leadership and collaborative efforts of the FAA, the AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF) and other organizations, and more can be done. From 1997 through 2006, the fatal accident rate declined from 1.36 to 1.26 accidents per 100,000 hours flown, a 7.4% decrease per the ASF's 2007 Nall Report, an authoritative summary of GA accident data. The number of fatal general aviation accidents declined by 5% in 2007, though this figure is directly affected by year-to-year variations in the number of hours flown. Historically, much of the decline in the number of fatal accidents is directly attributable to...

Radio Interview

On October 21, I was a guest on Steve Finnie's aviation radio show broadcast on KNTS, 1220 AM. My primary purpose in going on the show was to highlight some of the issues currently facing general aviation. In particular, I wanted to talk about the user fees being proposed in Senate bill 1300 and what listeners can do about it. I also wanted to highlight the need to grow the pilot population in the U.S.

I've uploaded some audio clips from the show. Just click on...

Cessna’s Columbia Purchase—a good deal for everyone

Over the last nearly 100 years, dozens of aircraft companies have gone into bankruptcy, most never to be heard of again. The outcome of the Columbia bankruptcy is a far happier story for everyone, with the possible exception of some unsecured creditors.

The deal is obviously good for Columbia employees, which have numbered as many as 700, making the factory one of the largest employers in Bend, OR. Cessna’s announced they plan to continue production in Bend rather than move the factory, which is an obvious plus to the employees and the local economy. 

The deal is especially good for Columbia aircraft owners. Not only will they benefit from Cessna’s large network of service centers, but they are now assured of a long term supply of parts and support. That’s got to be comforting news to anyone who’s invested $600,000 in a new airplane.

Financially, the deal is...

Starting AOPA in China?

Chaos theory tells us that small changes can have huge, unpredictable effects. Thus a butterfly beating its wings in Asia might affect the weather in the U.S. I may have inadvertently made a small change that could have a huge effect when I visited China with a business group in early November.

This picture of me in the AOPA hat was taken atop the Great Wall, not far from Beijing. Later that evening, the hat was lost in a Chinese restaurant. I can only imagine that somewhere in China, a waiter is walking around dreaming of becoming a pilot! Who knows what I may have started.

Currently, there's very little general aviation in China. While I was there, ...

AirVenture 2007 Oshkosh

We are living in the most fascinating time in general aviation history. After decades of little change, we’re seeing cataclysmic change on all fronts. On the low end, Light Sport aircraft offer the promise of attracting new people back into aviation. In the middle, Cessna is developing their next generation piston aircraft and Cirrus has a new high flying, turbocharged SR22. Higher up, Cessna and Eclipse are both shipping Very Light Jets. And of course, glass cockpits are showing up everywhere, from light sport aircraft to the jets.

The one place to see it all is Oshkosh. For years, I read about it in the magazines and thought, "this sounds pretty good." But Oshkosh is so great that words and pictures simply don't do it justice. You must go there and experience it yourself to appreciate how great it is. AirVenture is Mecca for pilots, and all pilots should make a pilgrimage to Oshkosh at least once during their lifetime. You can find my Oshkosh pictures by clicking here, or on the Oshkosh Photo Album located on the main page of this blog. I spent five days at Oshkosh this year, and it was...