Author Archives: Mac

  A group of aviation enthusiasts led by Dick DeVos of Amway has created an unusual, perhaps totally unique, public high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is the West Michigan Aviation Academy now in its third year of operation. … Continue reading →

Most of us remember from ground school that air circulates clockwise around a high and counter clockwise around a low pressure center. It’s useful, I guess, to know this to help understand what is happening overall with the weather. But … Continue reading →

This week the rocket motor on the Scaled Composite built SpaceShipTwo was fired in flight for the first time. The Burt Rutan designed rocketplane accelerated beyond Mach 1and reached an altitude of about 55,000 feet during the short rocket burn. … Continue reading →

The bill that Congress passed with unbelievable bipartisan support late last week directs the FAA to take $253 million from the airport improvement fund to avoid furloughing controllers for the rest of the government’s fiscal year that ends on September … Continue reading →

Non-pilots often ask us what the hardest part of flying is. I think most pilots reply that it is landing. But I believe airspeed control and management is the most difficult and also the most fundamental piloting skill. Airspeed affects … Continue reading →

Underwriters consider many factors when deciding what premium to charge a pilot to insure his airplane. But increasingly the age of the pilot is a big factor. In fact, for many underwriters, there is a maximum age cutoff for a … Continue reading →

The budget sequestration deadline came and went at the end of March and very few of the predicted dire consequences have happened. Yes, the military has been forced to end its air show participation, and the FAA is threatening to … Continue reading →

Sun n Fun was blessed with darn nice weather this year. Temps were in the mid 80s, but by central Florida standards, humidity wasn’t bad, and a breeze kept it comfortable. Perfect summer weather. It was a different story at … Continue reading →

A story in Sport Aviation raised many questions from readers. The writer had been told that he had a disqualifying medical condition. He then went on to build an E-LSA that he could fly as a Sport Pilot using his … Continue reading →

The closing of nearly 200 control towers has been getting the attention as the FAA cuts spending to comply with the federal budget sequestration. But other spending cuts that are coming raise even more troubling questions about the FAA’s future … Continue reading →