Category Archives: Mac Clellan’s Left Seat Blog

Strong stratification of winds can occur over the U.S. at any time of the year, but they are most common in the winter and early spring. And this has been one heck of a year for strong winds over most … Continue reading →

It has been fashionable at various times for the FAA to bill itself as being “kinder and gentler” when it comes to rules enforcement. The concept sounds good, but does it make sense? The people in charge of Flight Standards, … Continue reading →

I believe the new frontier for light airplanes is fly-by-wire, or more likely, electronic enhancement of flying qualities and envelope protection. And homebuilders are the people in a perfect position to pioneer those advances. Light airplane design and technology is … Continue reading →

Sikorsky helicopter president Jeff Pino was talking about the company’s S76 twin engine helicopter that will soon be offered in yet another evolutionary version, the “D” model. The S76 has been in production since 1979 and continues to be one … Continue reading →

  My boss, EAA president and CEO Rod Hightower, likes the word aviator. And also aviate. I am pleased that Rod thinks of me as an aviator. But, as usual, some have groused about use of the title aviator and … Continue reading →

In many countries accidents are considered to be criminal acts. Italy and Brazil come to mind as nations that have treated high profile aviation accidents as criminal acts by the pilots involved.  In Italy several years ago a U.S. military … Continue reading →

Garmin is all in on touchscreen avionics. It will no longer build its wildly successful GNS 430/530 flight management systems which have been replaced in production by the GTN 700/600 series units that have touchscreen control. Garmin also has the … Continue reading →

I was chatting with EAA founder Paul Poberezny last week. What an amazing guy. Through a very unusual set of circumstances during his military career during World War II and then as an officer in the Wisconsin National Guard he … Continue reading →