| Monday - March 15, 2010
Good Morning All,
News and Comments....
Here is today's Severe Weather Outlook from the National
Weather Service:
...NO SVR TSTM AREAS FORECAST...
Here we go again...
The following is from AOPA ePilot:
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 11 - MARCH 12, 2010
'If you have a daughter, teach her to fly- "If you
have a daughter, teach
her to fly," the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)
of World War II sang
at times to build morale. On March 10, Congress gave
the WASP the
Congressional Gold Medal, acknowledging these women's
service to their
country and the role they played in paving the way
for future generations of
women pilots. The Congressional Gold Medal is the
highest award Congress can
bestow on a civilian.
GA relief flight activity slows in Haiti- A Pennsylvania
pilot who recently
returned from a week of flying relief missions in
Haiti with his Cessna 177B
Cardinal says that general aviation relief flights
to the earthquake-ravaged
nation are winding down. During the early recovery
period, Dennis Pelletier
said, Haiti's smaller airfields were operated as international
airports-which meant pilots did not have to clear
customs at Port-au-Prince
and then fly to the outlying airfields. However, the
airports are now
returning to normal operations, requiring entry through
Port-au-Prince, the
country's only international airport. Volunteer pilots
have done a great
deal of good in the country, he said, and the need
for flights remains in
spite of mounting obstacles.
Record-setting pilot receives additional honors- Barrington
Irving, who in
2007 became the first African-American to fly around
the world, received
additional recognition of his achievements in February,
which is designated
as Black History Month. In 2007 Irving, then age 23,
flew a custom-made
Cessna Columbia 400 23,000 nm in a trek that lasted
three months, departing
from Miami's Opa Locka Airport. He continues to work
with inner-city youth
through a nonprofit organization, Experience Aviation
The following is from AVWeb:
AVwebFLASH Volume 16, Number
10b -- March 11, 2010
FAA FORECASTS GROWTH FOR GENERAL AVIATION- By
2030, the general aviation
fleet will grow by about 50,000 airplanes and 52,000
active pilots, the FAA
forecast this week. The forecast calls for robust
growth in the long term
and predicts business use of GA aircraft will expand
at a faster pace than
personal and recreational use. With growth forecast
across all sectors --
traffic at the nation's 35 busiest airports is expected
to increase by 60
percent -- infrastructure upgrades will need to keep
up. "A safe, efficient
and vibrant aviation system is vital to our nation's
economic health," said
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "We must find
long-term solutions
that will keep the U.S. aviation industry competitive
and moving forward
into the future." Light sport aircraft are expected
to increase by about 825
aircraft per year through 2013, then taper off to
about 335 per year. Sport
pilots, who numbered 3,248 at the end of 2009, will
increase to 14,100 by
2030, the FAA estimates.
The forecast, which comes after a short-term period
of slow growth in
aviation activity, underscores the need for the Next
Generation Air
Transportation System (NextGen), as well as continued
investment in airport
infrastructure projects, the FAA said. "This forecast
makes a very strong
business case for NextGen," said FAA Administrator
Randy Babbitt. "Without
NextGen, we won't be able to handle the increased
demand for service that
this forecast anticipates." Meanwhile, the FAA reauthorization
bill, which
will provide funding for the agency, continues to
be stalled in Congress.
Legislators from Tennessee have come under fire this
week for trying to
de-rail the bill due to a provision that would make
it possible for some
FedEx workers to unionize.
NTSB: GLASS COCKPITS DO NOT IMPROVE SAFETY- An NTSB
study shows glass
cockpit technology has not significantly improved
the safety of small light
planes, the NTSB said Tuesday, and the board recommended
changes, from
training to maintenance reporting, to improve the
statistics. While data
collected between 2002 and 2008 showed fewer total
accidents for those
aircraft equipped with glass panels, that total came
with a higher fatal
accident rate and higher total fatal accidents. For
the period from
2002-2008, conventionally equipped aircraft suffered
141 total accidents
with 23 having a fatal outcome. Glass-equipped aircraft
suffered 125 total
accidents with 39 having a fatal outcome. But the
board's study also found
the mission profile for each type of equipment package
and the
characteristics of the pilot were different between
the two platforms.
Generally speaking, higher-time pilots were flying
longer flights with
glass.
That said, the NTSB was able to use the data to offer
six recommendations
voiced at the meeting. Five of those were related
to equipment-specific
training and one applied directly to testing requirements.
The Light Thought of The Day...
DO YOU THINK ENGLISH IS EASY?.... They were too close
to the door to close
it.
Closing Thoughts...
We should be careful to get out of an experience only
the wisdom that is in
it -- and stop there -- lest we be like the cat that
sits down on a hot
stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid
again, and that is
well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one
anymore. -Mark Twain,
author and humorist (1835-1910)
That's it for today, have a good week, and be careful
out there,
Roger
Cons and Other Events:
Due to the wide variety of Chronicle readers, I have
added the following
notations to the name of the event entry:
# Indicates a Science Fiction or Fantasy event.
^
Indicates a Aviation or Space event.
* Tentative Location.
**Tentative Date(s).
*** Tentative Event.
& Kechi Playhouse Presentations.
+ Events narrated wholly or in part by Plane Talk Airshows.
@ Events where
your humble editor will be a guest.
This year-
March-
TBD
April-
16-17: The Kansas Cosmosphere's
40th Anniversary of Apollo 13 Events;
Hutchinson, Kansas; ^
17: Wings of Remembrance Spring
Fly-In Pancake Breakfast; Newton,
Kansas; ^ +
23-25: Conestoga 14; Tulsa, Oklahoma;
#
May-
14-16: Demicon 21; Des Moines,
Iowa: #
28-31: ConQuesT; Kansas City, Missouri;
#
June-
4-6: SoonerCon 2010/Yard Dog Press
15th Anniversary Celebration;
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; #
12: CAF Jayhawk Wing Poker Run;
Wichita, Kansas; +
July-
03: EAA Chapter 88 Annual Fly-In;
Newton, Kansas; ^ +
10-11: CAF's Heart of America's
Open House; Olathe, Kansas; ^
23-25: OSFest 3; Omaha, Nebraska;
#
26-08/01: EAA AirVenture 2010;
Oshkosh, Wisconsin; ^
August-
27-28: When Pigs Fly; McPherson,
Kansas; ^ +
28-29: Colorado Sport International
Air Show; Denver, Colorado; ^
September-
11: Fort Scott Airport Day; Fort
Scott, Kansas; ^ ** ***
16: Currently Scheduled Launch
of the Final Voyage of the Space Shuttle
Discovery and the last flight of the
Space Shuttle Program. **
October-
1-3: ARCHON 34; Maryland Heights,
Missouri (St Louis area); #
8-10: CAF AIRSHO; Midland, Texas;
^
16: Wings of Remembrance Fall Fly-In
Pancake Breakfast; Newton, Kansas;
^ +
November-
TBD:
December- We'll try again for Hawaii around
Christmas time when the new
USS Arizona Memorial Museum and
Visitors Center Opens.
Next Year (2011)-
June-
18: Wings of Remembrance 2011 Airshow;
Newton, Kansas; ^ + ** ***
The Next Year (2012)-
December-
21-?: We Haven't Determined A Name
Yet; Hutchinson , Kansas; ?
Copyright 2010 by Roger M. Tener,
with individual rights reverting back
to contributors after this one
time use. All opinions and versions of
events expressed by contributors
are their own. |