Free Republic

Governor Announces Move In Monday News Conference ANN has learned that the deal between the State of Wisconsin and Kestrel Aircraft is done, and that Alan Klapmeier's turboprop airplane will be built in the upper Midwestern state rather than in Brunswick, ME. Wisconsin will also reportedly be the new home of Kestrel's headquarters.

"Both general aviation and commercial aircraft use the public airspace and air traffic control facilities, and the public has a right to information about their activities." Oh, please. We all use public streets and sidewalks, which doesn't mean the police have a right to monitor our movements and let the world know where we go.

Mention has been made about President Obama’s casting of corporate jet owners as villains in yesterday’s press conference. Clearly, he feels strongly about it, as he called them out specifically half a dozen times. This vilification is especially rich, coming as it does from the man who regularly rides what is likely considered to be the most expensive “corporate jet” in the world. And of course we shouldn’t forget that the “tax breaks” for those dastardly corporate jet owners came right from his own Stimulus plan which failed so spectacularly… But let’s take a look at the “corporate jet” part...

I'm considering taking up recreational flying. I've done it before - about 4 years ago, I took a couple hours' worth of training before the snow fell, but at the time, I was working a traveling job where I could only take lessons on weekends, and winter approached. I believe there are many pilots here on FR, both commercial and recreational. What experiences did you have in becoming what you are today? Was it harder than you expected? Did it take longer than you expected? Did it cost more than you wished it did, or was it affordable? What do...

Well, after spending most all of my adult life flying other peoples toys, I'm officially in the market to buy myself a plane. I have spent the better part of the past year narrowing my search for the perfect steed and have settled upon the Piper Malibu Series. This seems to have the best combo of speed, range, economy and cabin size for my personal travel needs. Plus I like the idea of the pressurized cabin over the supplemental oxygen system especially for passengers mostly the younger ones. I have found a sweet deal on one nicely appointed, modern avionics,...

TCM Announces Temporary Closures Sun, 04 Oct '09 More 'Signs Of The Times' The economic malaise continues... During a recent chat with TCM's Rhett Ross, ANN has learned that Teledyne Continental Motors 'will close its factory for one week in response to reduced demand from new aircraft manufacturers for engines and related parts. The closure will start this Monday, 05 October 2009. The plant will reopen for normal business on Monday, 12 October 2009.'

After CBS News aired its “Follow the Money” story about federal stimulus money being spent on general aviation airports, AOPA weighed its response options and decided to take its concerns to the highest levels at CBS News. In a letter to the most senior managers at CBS News and the CBS Evening News, AOPA Executive Vice President of Communications Karen Gebhart pointed out several of the inaccuracies in the CBS story. In the letter, Gebhart pointed out factual errors and errors of omission. Regarding, for instance, a taxiway safety lighting system at Los Angeles International Airport for which the report...

General aviation is fighting back against Obama's clear plan to shut it down (except for the private jets of his Hollywood and business buddies). Hit link to see first two TV ads.

One Pilot's On-Scene Report Signals New and Draconian TSA Efforts To Severely Limit GA Freedoms ANN E-I-C Note: The following email is real and has been verified as being the work-product/personal report of a pilot (who has asked for anonymity) that attended a recent TSA meeting in Montrose, CO, in which new and mostly unreported TSA controls were discussed that spell incredible trouble for the aviation world... no matter who they may be. Outside of some minor grammar/presentation issues, the email has NOT been edited and has been republished below so that the thoughts and observations of one alarmed citizen...

Freepers I have a dilly for you. Today I attended the Great Lakes International Aviation Conference at the Rock Financial Center in Michigan. Many vendors with a couple of planes on display, parts, schools etc etc. I approached one booth at a distance and the Gent reeled me in. Asked if I knew about how to reduce the cost of purchase around or below $800,000.00. Signs denoted lower tax rates etc. I asked is this accelerated depreciation he said no. Then he says With the new stimulus package getting done by the end of the week the amounts have gone...

Latest Company To Feel Effects Of Economic Slump The latest stop by The Recession Fairy is Kerrville, TX. Mooney Aircraft announced Wednesday it will cut production as it tries to sell excess inventory into a slumping marketplace... and fewer planes in production means fewer workers will be needed to build them.

(CBS/AP) A small plane trying to make an emergency landing crashed into two houses Tuesday, killing five people and starting fires that seriously burned three others in one of the homes, authorities said.

This Flying FReeper (Catchy - should have used that as a sign-up name!), and other pilots here, need your help! While congressional and grassroot wars have been raging around Illegal immigration, border security, and conduct of the War On Terror, another quieter, but important, battle is being waged which pits supporters of General Aviation (GA) against the airlines. In a nutshell, the airlines want to take over the FAA function and funding. They want to do this by creating an Airline Transport Association-sponsored program named "Smart Skies". The resulting "panel of experts", comprised of airline executives, would result in...

Berlin-Tempelhof, Hitler’s favourite airport, could yet be rescued by one of the world’s most influential Jewish philanthropists. Cosmetics billionaire, New York socialite and art collector Ronald Lauder – son of the celebrated Estée Lauder - is behind a €350m (£235m) project to turn the Third Reich architectural relic into a luxury fly-in health clinic for Europe’s super rich. Berlin's cash-strapped city fathers earlier this year finally cleared the way to develop the proposed new Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI) on the site of the present Schönefeld airport to the south east of the city, handling an annual 22 million passengers. Inner...

To finance the nation's aviation system through 2017, the FAA is proposing swooping changes in its funding structure, including more than tripling taxes on fuel for small planes. The uproar among the general aviation community -- which includes all planes outside commercial and military use -- has been loud and constant, according to the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, which represents more than 411,000 pilots. "We surveyed our members before the FAA's proposal came out," said Chris Dancy, spokesman. "At the level the FAA is proposing, 88 percent said they would dramatically reduce or even cease flying." General aviation, which...

Snow removal a specialty of award-winning airfield. the Little Airport That Could. Centennial is an astonishing seven-time winner (plus one honorable mention) of a national snow-removal award for large general aviation airfields. That achievement gives it high-flying popularity among corporate-jetting executives who want to get where they're going quickly - and safely. "We're clearly the airport of choice... "Our crews know how to remove snow." For the record: Along with most area airports, Centennial was shut down last week for about 27 hours... What's the secret to Centennial's snow-sweeping success? "Long before the snow starts to fly out here, they...

NEW YORK - A small plane with New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle aboard crashed into a high-rise condominium tower Wednesday on the Upper East Side, killing at least two people and raining flaming debris on the sidewalks below, authorities said. The New York City medical examiner's office now says two people have died in the plane crash, not four as the office had previously reported. There was no immediate confirmation Lidle was among the dead, although a federal law enforcement official said Lidle's passport was found on the street beneath the crash site. A law enforcement official in Washington,...

Chicago will pay a $33,000 fine for illegally tearing up Meigs Field airport without proper notification. And the city will have to repay $1 million of airport funds that Mayor Richard M. Daley illegally diverted from O'Hare and Midway airports to give to the destruction contractors. --- Snip ---

Three people are confirmed dead after an airplane crashed and burst into flames in Melbourne [Florida], near the Melbourne International Airport. The plane was reportedly coming in for a landing, when it crashed about one mile from airport runway. A small brush fire broke out following the crash, but firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. Check back periodically for updates to this story [at the link].

MOJAVE - Richard H. "Dick" Cockrum of Pomona had just stopped for a break during a road trip Sunday afternoon at McDonald's on Highway 14 when "suddenly, there was a loud noise," he said. "I looked up and saw some black smoke right about the Best Western," he said. Cockrum said a small plane hit the eastside curb in front of the Best Western and slid across the street to the opposite curb, as an explosion toward the rear rocked the craft. He and other onlookers started toward the plane when they saw the pilot exit from one side of...

Wants GA Aircraft Banned Over Cities, Says Incident Justifies Closure Of Meigs Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, the man General Aviation loves to hate, renewed his call for a ban on GA flight over major cities in the wake of Wednesday's light plane incursion deep into the Washington ADIZ. Daley also said the Washington incident proves he was right to destroy Meigs Field under the cover of darkness two years ago. "They should value the lives of people in large cities," he said during a City Hall news conference, quoted by the Chicago Tribune. "We need the same protection as Washington,...

breaking on msnbc

Thu, Dec 30 2004 NTSB Issues Icing Alert Alert To Pilots:  Wing Upper Surface Ice Accumulation As a result of a recent takeoff accident that has generated much discussion about the effects of wing upper surface ice accumulations, the National Transportation Safety Board is issuing the following alert letter to pilots: Wing Upper Surface Ice Accumulation Alert The National Transportation Safety Board has long been concerned about the insidious nature of the effects of small amounts of ice accumulated on an airplane's upper wing surface.  The Safety Board's preliminary investigation of the November 28, 2004 accident involving a Bombardier...

A Windham pilot averted disaster for his passengers and a street-full of horrified bystanders Tuesday when he nailed an emergency landing on a busy commercial strip in Roseland, Ind. Craig Miers, 25, glided his company's turboprop airplane onto the Indiana 933 highway after engine troubles left him with nowhere else to go. The plane came down safely just feet from a Howard Johnson Inn, cutting down some power lines but injuring no one. A Clay Township, Ind., firefighter looks over the right wing tip of a plane piloted by a Windham man who made an emergency landing near the campus...

The Fox affiliate in the Orlando area is going to do a hatchet job on general aviation airfields tonight. Their breathless, stupid lead in (done appropriately by the typical bubble-headed blonde) goes something like this: "They provide easy access for the rich and their airplanes but are Florida's small airfields attracting terrorists to launch small airplanes against commercial airlines!!!!"Calling Phil Boyer.

On FNC now...

The city of Chicago (in particular, its taxpayers) could face fines approaching $5 million for its midnight assault on Meigs Field 18 months ago. The FAA announced Friday it's proposing the city be fined $33,000 (the maximum) for failing to provide 30 days notice of the closure. The agency also said it was launching an investigation into whether $1.5 million in federal funds that were supposed to be spent on development of O'Hare International were diverted to pay the contractor hired to tear up Meigs. If it's true, the penalty could reach as high as $4.5 million. City spokeswoman Annette...

Alexandria, VA, August 13, 2004 On August 11, two NBC reporters posing as foreign businessmen attempted to charter a helicopter at Fostaire Helicopters, a member of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and a Part 135 operator based at St. Louis Downtown Airport, in Sauget, IL.“We got a call from a prospective customer asking about a scenic flight,” said Clarke Thomas, president of Fostaire Helicopters. “They wanted to know how close they could get to the St Louis landmarks and they said price was no object. That raised a red flag right away because any businessman is always concerned with...

Please read the article via the link, it is copyrighted. It looks like NBC tried to pull a GM Side-Saddle Gas Tank type set-up and got caught and the story will not run. This is awful. They tried it with fake bag-guys and tried to rent a Helicopter. The local airport folks called the athorities and they (NBC fake bad guys) had some explaining to do, to say the least.

In Washington the hand-wringing continues about the various security breakdowns that, on the day before Ronald Reagan's funeral, caused the Capitol to be evacuated when the approach of a private plane bearing Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher was mistaken for a terrorist attack. Surely it is unsettling that after three years of security improvements at almost unlimited expense, confusion reigned regarding who was responsible as Fletcher's plane droned toward the center of D.C. and was briefly believed to be doing just what the 9/11 attackers had done. But set the anti-terrorism snafus aside and ask the question that has so far...

Feb. 11 — AOPA's claim that the city of Chicago violated federal law and aviation regulations when it shut down Meigs Field last March has merit, says the FAA, and will be investigated. AOPA filed a formal complaint following the destruction of Meigs's runway on Mayor Richard M. Daley's order, claiming the city failed to provide adequate notice, as required by the FARs. The complaint will not result in the airport's reopening but can lead to the mayor and the city being punished for their actions. "AOPA intends to push for the appropriate penalty to be imposed on the city,"...

Ira Nisby had his eyes on the road as he tooled down Interstate 40 in Memphis Sunday, but he should have been watching the skies. Just before noon, an out-of-gas Cessna 210 single-engine airplane with four aboard touched down on the top of his GMC Jimmy, then bounced into the lane ahead of him. "I heard a knock," Nisby said. "He came from the air. I couldn't see it," he said. Nisby, of Millington, was headed west at Covington Pike to drop off a woman passenger in his vehicle, when the airplane descended. There were no injuries. The airplane didn't...

The City of Chicago and Chicago Park District closed downtown commuter airport Meigs Field March 30 in an overnight operation, citing homeland security as the main motivation for the swift action. Demolition equipment operated by a local general contractor rolled into the 55-year-old airfield shortly before midnight and began tearing up its 3,899-ft-long runway with a series of large "X" gouges in the asphalt, preventing small planes from taking off or landing. "We did it for public safety," says Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose action has been called "one of the boldest moves in the mayor's career." No public notice...

I'm a 28 year old miserable gen-Xers out of a job and prospects in this economy. I am a programmer and am haveing trouble finding a new position. But beyond that, truth be told, I really don't enjoy being an office worker and I'm not that excited about struggling to find another position that I don't even really enjoy for likely substantially less money then I was makeing. My first dream since childhood was to be a pilot. I got my private pilot's certificate when I was 17 and my instrument rateing at 19. I've got about 200 hours but...

<p>The state says it may have to close five airports, including the busy facility at Kapalua on Maui, unless it can turn them over to private operators.</p> <p>An Oct. 1 letter from Gov. Ben Cayetano to legislators says the state is considering closing or privatizing the five small airfields — Dillingham on O'ahu, Port Allen on Kaua'i, 'Upolu and Waimea-Kohala on the Big Island, and Kapalua on Maui — in an effort to cut costs.</p>

Recently, my flight school had a surprise ramp check by the FBI rather than the FAA. They found several discrepencies including Cessna 172s and Seminoles with their doors unlocked. All keys to the Cessnas were accounted for, but the Seminoles required securing in our hangers (a twin-engine Seminole doesn't require a key to start the engine).My question to FR's Air Squadron is have you seen a greater amount of oversight or surveillance lately at your FBO or school?