General Aviation and Flight School News

That would be an x?

….wait until this takes effect.
The National Weather Service is out to close most regional weather forecasting facilities.
This of course in response to cost cutting measures.
The air traffic controllers’ union is dead set against it, but when was the last time anyone has ever listened to them?
As with so many things in the government world, it takes a few well publicized crashes and few people to die (important ones, celebrities, not background noise like us) for this to come under public and official criticism.

When people learned, after Air France 447 disappeared, that airliners have very little in support in terms of radar, flight following, weather services, during extended oceanic routes, there is already talk about satellite based services.

Again, it takes a few hundred bodies floating in the ocean somewhere for this to become suddenly an agenda.

AOPA in its latest attempt to demonstrate their loss of reality  and contact  to the common aviator is promoting the Let’s Go Flying campaign in a Cirrus SR22.

Yes AOPA, nothing promotes Learn To Fly more than a $300 per hour airplane!
The aircraft is of course no doubt one of the greatest flying machines in general aviation today, however….

Maybe the Cirrus is the only aircraft with advanced avionics and safety equipment? No, not really.

Oh yes, the Cirrus is commonly in use in flight training around the country and readily available for rent. No, not really.

Well, come one, the Cirrus is an affordable entry level aircraft suited for low time aviators on a budget. No, not really, at all.

So some “lucky aviator” will win this thing, is that not great? Sure, and so is the $5000 in property tax that lucky guy will have to pay!

I guess this promotion could not have possibly been done in a Piper Warrior, Cessna 172, a light sport plane or something remotely appealing (affordable) to the common aviator.

Thanks AOPA. Let’s talk again when you are back from outer space.

This story amazes me just a little.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20090406X23701&ntsbno=WPR09CA181&akey=1

Heaven, if there only was a way to navigate without a GPS. Say, charts maybe?
Or if there was actually a way to pre-plan what one was about to do, maybe some sort of, say, flight-plan thing or so.

And then, if there further was maybe a service, we’ll call that flight service for lack of a better term, that one could plan with and be in contact with when one needed it?

But then we would need on of those new fangled radio thingies, they have not perfected them yet either, or so I hear.

Man, I sure wish we had all that technology!

Read the NTSB report here.

Jeez Louise.
You have to have some really bad day when first your landing gear falls off, and then the engine does not respond when you are landing. According to this website link, that same outfit had some “issues” before.

Note to self, skydiving is NOT dangerous, getting up there apparently is….