Now is the Time to Invest in GA

I wanted very much to headline this post as "Good Times for GA" because everywhere I look this week, we see forward progress on many fronts. Sure, GA deliveries were still down 41.1 percent in 1Q09 according to GAMA, but in this post, I am resisting the temptation to always focus every bit of GA news on our pathetic economy.

If you take dismal sales and student start numbers out of the picture, GA's future has to look bright, no way to dispute that. Here are a few examples courtesy of AOPA, which by the way operates one of the web's best aviation news operations:

TSA lessens security restrictions on transient pilots

"The Transportation Security Administration confirmed that is has a new security directive signed by TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides that tones down proposed security restrictions for transient pilots flying into commercial-service airports. The new directive, called SD-8G, clarifies and corrects some of the issues that AOPA and the GA community objected to in SD-8F. The new directive will go into effect June 1. As AOPA has previously reported, SD-8F would have required pilots based at or flying into commercial-service airports to undergo a background check and receive a security badge in order to continue to have unescorted access to their airports."

This is great news, because this ridiculous TSA badging requirement was being rammed down our throats in secret. Sure, pilots like me who base at a field being served by the regionals will have to use a badge to get through a gate, but it's always been that way, no changes here. So kudos to all the GA acronym groups who helped TSA come back to this party.

Next up, we see serious forward progress on FAA funding reauthorization, again, from AOPA:

House passes FAA authorization, no user fees

"The House of Representatives on May 21 passed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2009 (H.R.915). The bill is a four-year authorization that would fund the FAA through 2012 with aviation fuel taxes, ticket taxes, and a general fund contribution. AOPA strongly supports H.R.915, which is nearly identical to a bill that passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate last year. The bill includes a moderate increase in taxes on GA fuel but would not impose user fees."

This still has to go through the Senate, but that is a different body these days then when the Bush/Cheney White House and the GOP held that chamber hostage to keep their brethren in Corporate America satisfied. Now that Arlen Specter has cut the GOP off at the ankles in that room, expect a more logical, sensible vote on FAA funding.

And last, there is finally a new Captain at the helm of the Good Ship FAA:

New FAA chief confirmed

"The U.S. Senate on May 21 confirmed Randy Babbitt, former president of the Airline Pilots Association, as the head of the FAA. The position has been filled by acting administrators since the term of the previous administrator, Marion Blakey, expired at the end of fiscal year 2007."

Babbitt has a full plate as he takes over at FAA, including design and implementation of the NextGen ATC system, and solving the months-long labor dispute with our NATCA-member Air Traffic Controllers. But since Babbitt is very much a "union man", NATCA's President, Patrick Forrey, could not be happier with the confirmation:

“On behalf of the air traffic controller workforce and the aviation safety professionals that NATCA represents, I want to congratulate Randy Babbitt on his confirmation. He takes over an agency that certainly has its share of challenges and problems to fix, but also has dedicated, highly skilled and professional employees on the front lines of the National Airspace System that are represented by an organization – NATCA – which puts safety above all. Randy has the world’s most skilled and dedicated workforce of aviation safety professionals and subject matter experts ready to work with him to put safety first and modernize our system to meet the demands of the FAA’s true customers, the flying public. But first, this workforce must be assured that its help is wanted and not ignored like the last several years. It is time for a restoration of fairness to FAA labor relations and the opening of the door of collaboration and mutual respect. We wish Randy well as he takes on these great challenges."

Any way you slice all this, the stock is definitely rising for GA. Now if we can get the economy turned around and sell a few planes and get a few new faces to darken the doorways at America's flight schools, we'll be on the road to recovery.

A GA Flight to Perfection, USA

Ask any GA pilot, and they'll tell you of the same quest, where they strap on their favorite bird and launch in search of fun, sunshine and the elusive $100 hamburger. To many of us who hold our pilot's licenses dear, we seem to be in a continuous hunt for new destinations to aim our props, places with something to do once wheels meet runway.

In a perfect flying world, our dream destination would feature beautiful scenery, lots of good airplane folk hanging around a comfortable FBO where large amounts of pastries and baked goods are free for the taking, an FBO that also offers sensible ground transportation. This place would be close to endless recreation, in a location known for clean air, friendly people and a laid-back lifestyle.

Over this past Memorial Day weekend, I had the rare opportunity to find this exact GA Shangri-la, a wonderland of fun, food, airplanes and endless blue skies:

We launched out of Eugene Airport (EUG) and pointed Katy eastbound, hammer down. Our scenic 40-minute journey became more beautiful with every NM as we climbed up over the Cascade Range. We were awestruck with the panorama of the Three Sisters and Mt. Bachelor peaks at our nine o'clock, and the Waldo Lake Wilderness off our three. With perfect zero winds aloft, the ride was on rails, and soon we had Katy lined up with runway 36 at Sunriver Resort's airport.

After a nice greaser – ya' gotta love the way the Piper Cherokee almost lands itself – we taxied to parking on the kind of GA ramp we all dream of finding. Along with several full rows of your usual Skyhawks, Skylanes, Turbo Lances, Glasairs and a smattering of vintage hardware like a mint Cessna 170, we also saw a TBM 850, a King Air 350 and an Eclipse 500 parked over in the high rent district south of the main ramp. It was very cool to watch the TBM launch as we strolled to the FBO, where our day really started to come together:

After ordering fuel to a very friendly crew that seem a touch surprised a Cherokee of any kind had tip tanks, we were blown away to be offered FREE loaner beach cruiser bikes for the day. Yes, some FBOs give you a little cookie, or a bottle of water, but just outside the FBO was about 20 FREE bikes, just choose one and go. Had this been Palm Springs, you could expect to pay $18.95 for a half-day bike rental, but not at Sunriver. Here, it's gratis baby, and man, that sure makes you, the guest, feel important.

So what do you do with free bikes at Sunriver? Better to ask what DON'T you do. You can cruise along the banks of the gorgeous Deschutes River on perfect paved bike paths, or roll on over to the brand new Equestrian Center for a guided horseback ride. Or, go past the horses and pull into the Marina for a canoe or raft rental, and float the river for six miles before the resort staff meets you and brings you back to your bikes. And then there's the golf:

O.K., I don't play golf, but I know people who do, including one PGA professional who has achieved the highest level you can get in PGA course management. I've photographed golf courses, and as an avid lawn mower, I just know healthy grass when I see it. And just about everywhere I looked as we pedaled along were pristine greens and manicured fairways that I'm sure are known for their wonderful playing qualities. But what blew me away was the professional-level Putt-Putt golf course, which was REAL grass! Not concrete painted green, where you try and hit the ball up the Clown's butt, no, these were real greens just like the real course, with real tee boxes, all perfectly clipped to allow a round of putt-putt golf like you've never experienced.

After a great meal in the Lodge, we again cruised our FREE bikes all over the complex, in perfect 72-degree weather, breathing the cleanest Oregon air, saying hello to endless happy people. This was a GA day to remember, and I cannot wait to return again to Sunriver in August for our 22nd wedding anniversary during the Sunriver Music Festival Aug. 12 -22. On that trip, we will again claim our free bikes, take the two-hour horseback ride through the forest and along the river, stay in a condo we find on VRBO, and play a round of serious Putt-Putt golf.

If you own a GA plane and live within a couple of tanks of S21 - Sunriver Resort Airport - you really need to make this place a required destination. A flight in here to play for a day or a week is what GA flying is all about. It is the very essence of why we buy and fly private planes, a destination that defines the kind of freedom we as pilots enjoy.

And while I certainly can afford to rent a couple of bikes for a day, the fact that they are free to pilots is something that resonates with you long after you have departed the pattern for home. My ad agency reps several properties in the tourism field, and it's things like this – a freebie when they could have gigged you out a twenty spot – that keeps people coming back.

Am I a Tweeple, or Just a Twit?

I make no excuses for my age, 52, and while there are aches and pains that develop when the human body ages, there is also a great wealth of wisdom one learns as our body clocks tick through middle age.

But there can be no disputing the fact that we Boomers are tasked with trying to keep up with the younger humans among us. While Generation X, Y and Whatever might have us beat on technology, we cream many of them when it comes to knowing those life skills that can only be mastered after several decades of making mistakes.

As a graphic designer/web site developer, I feel quite confident about my computer skills, and I've been a Mac user since the first ones hit the streets. I cut my teeth on Pagemaker 1.0, and try these days to run fast enough on the continuously updating tech treadmill to feel pretty comfortable with my power user chops when it comes to designing in Indesign, photo work in Photoshop, or web work using Dreamweaver or Flash. Sure, the kids can code circles around me, but half of them end up sending their files to the printer as RGB images, not having connected the proper dots on high-end digital lithography techniques.

Like everyone else, I live (and die) on the Internet, that rapidly changing minefield of information we are all completely tethered to these days. And in that minefield, the one area that is literally exploding is social media, which is where my mind starts going a bit numb:

It's like this: I've been into social media since America Online 1.0 changed our lives. Back in that day, we'd sit impatiently listening to the ridiculous sound of two V.34 modems connecting, which resembled a couple of Muskrats intoxicated on Olde English 800 making passionate love. As an early AOL user, if you weren't careful, you'd end up chasing off Toxic Tanya when a simple chat in an AOL chatroom became Fatal Attraction.

Yes, those old chat room days were, um, interesting. Was that really Suzie in Omaha, or was "Suzie" really "Fred" sitting in his underwear in a single-wide in Boca Raton? Minefield.

Today, social media has blossomed into a complete monster, with everyone you know jumping into Facebook and Twitter, big time. I went the same route as everyone else, getting seriously comfortable with Facebook while thinking Twitter was just a fad. But then I bit the bullet and signed on as a Tweeple, or am I a Twit? Beats me...but I know I tweet, and once I Twat I Taw a Putty Tat. Jeez Louise:

Now with just about 800 "followers" on Twitter, I am beginning to get my legs with this new minefield of information that comes rushing at you so fast, it is hard for my 52-year-old brain to digest. I believe there is value in this service, and as a blogger and former journalist for over 30 years, I never miss a news breaking news story while on Twitter. Today, I learned that the House passed H.R. 915 – the FAA Reauthorization Bill – almost in real-time. The immediacy of Twitter is, as the kids say, sick.

I can see the usefulness of reading other people's "tweets" all day, but sadly, only about 70% of the "Tweeple" I follow actually tweet about something interesting, The other 30% just wastes keystrokes. Here are a few gems pulled verbatim off my Twitter "timeline" just now:

• Twitter is the devil. It lulls u into a sense of trust & u tell the world stuff that shouldn't be told.

• Am already so friggin full - salad wine ribs steak wine wine

• Putting food in my stomach first. Then a beer.

• Pissed that my Sonic on Hwy. 10 was closed at 1120pm! WTF!

Holy crap! Do these Tweeters really THINK other Tweeple really care when the burger joint down the street closes?

Now don't get me wrong, Twitter has become a great way to push traffic to my blog and ad agency website. Nothing financial has come of three weeks of solid Twittering though, and the Twitterati hasn't punched my card to financial independence. But, I've noticed just about everyone has a scheme for how I can improve my Twitterification, and maybe I'll soon learn the Twouble with the Twit is worth the Twerrible Twime I am having Tweaching my Twfollowers to only Tweet Tweets Twhich I want to Twread.

Our GPS System: More Stinking Leftovers

Recently, AIN Online's Andrew Wood ran a very good, very detailed article with a headline that is sure to get any pilot's attention:

Federal Watchdog:
GPS Constellation in Peril

Since we all use GPS these days as a primary means of VFR nav – and for IFR nav for those with certified boxes – hearing that the system is in "peril" ought to get our attention big time. Here's a pull from Woods' AIN article:

"A study from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) predicts that GPS service levels could fall well below civil requirements in the next decade. GPS typically has 24 satellites in orbit, although it currently has 31. But these are mainly aging “legacy” units, which are progressively failing and, while replacements are being launched, GAO calculates that these will be insufficient to bridge the gap before the Department of Defense’s advanced technology GPS III satellites are forecast to enter service in 2014. Worse, GAO investigators state that the GPS III program timing is overoptimistic, meaning a two-year delay is likely."

Man, as a freshly-minted instrument pilot – one with his eye on a Garmin 430W for Katy – I do NOT like the sound of that. But wait, there's more, and it gets worse. Again, from AIN:

"GAO predicts that a two-year GPS III delay could cause the constellation to go below the optimum 24 satellites as early as next year and deteriorate to as few as 18 satellites before full recovery in 2022. The report is a startling indictment of lax management, poor contractor oversight, “requirements creep,” indifference to budgets and schedules and the continuing lack of a single individual with complete program responsibility, according to the GAO."

How's THAT for uncertainty? You can read the entire GAO report here [pdf], but if you wish to add more uncertainty to your already concerned mind, here is a pull from the GAO report's summary section:

"It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected. (1) In recent years, the Air Force has struggled to successfully build GPS satellites within cost and schedule goals; it encountered significant technical problems that still threaten its delivery schedule; and it struggled with a different contractor. As a result, the current IIF satellite program has overrun its original cost estimate by about $870 million and the launch of its first satellite has been delayed to November 2009--almost 3 years late. (2) Further, while the Air Force is structuring the new GPS IIIA program to prevent mistakes made on the IIF program, the Air Force is aiming to deploy the next generation of GPS satellites 3 years faster than the IIF satellites. GAO's analysis found that this schedule is optimistic, given the program's late start, past trends in space acquisitions, and challenges facing the new contractor."

All I can say is this: This whole situation smells like more stinking government leftovers from the Bush administration, who I am sure was told this could have been avoided if they would only come back from the ranch long enough to do something correctly in a timely fashion. And in these early months of the Obama administration, again our new leaders are charged with cleaning up yet another mess. But as the days tick off under our popular [unless you are in that GOP 20 percent that bows to the alter of Rush Limbaugh] new President, I am personally energized that he has teams in place to sterilize Washington and get these important tasks completed.

The FAA funding and labor issues are certainly tops on the list of W's aviation-related messes that Team Obama is tasked with cleaning up. But certainly the GPS system has to rank right up there too...if not for us GA guys and gals, but for the military, who needs the system far more than we do.

A Tour Any Aviator Would Cherish

I have been making a number of worldwide friends these days as a fairly new "Tweep", and one of those is Vincent, a Swiss private pilot who Tweets under the name PlasticPilot. He lives near Frankfurt and has most of his time in a PA-32 Saratoga. He also has a large handful of hours in one of GA's most exhilarating rides, the Diamond DA40 with G1000 instrumentation. He is "one of us" a regular guy with a passion for aviation.

Recently, PlasticPilot made blog friends with a safety engineer at the Pilatus factory in Stans, Switzerland, which is sited in a most scenic part of this planet in the dramatic Swiss Alps between a mountain and lake. That e-friendship led to an invitation to tour the Pilatus factory, and Plastic Pilot has written a long and very good post about that tour here.

Of note are the mentions of the PC-21 military trainer, and the many "NO PHOTO" areas where it is constructed. When we think of Pilatus, of course we all think of their uber-groovy PC-12, the does-it-all turboprop bizliner that can haul massive weights in pressurized comfort at efficient operational costs and then land on a dime and give you .07 cents change. I consider the PC-12 to be the one large aircraft I would buy tomorrow if those six Powerball numbers came my way, it simply eclipses everything in it's class in all categories, IMHO.

I have known a few people who have been lucky enough to travel to Switzerland and take the Pilatus factory tour, and believe me, I am completely jealous. So PlasticPilot's blog post on the tour was welcome reading. If you are even remotely interested in the PC-12 or the Pilatus family of aircraft, go here and read the blog post...I promise it will be time well spent.

One dream vacation I have always had on my long-term agenda is a trip to Tuscany and then up to Vienna by train to enjoy the visual and performing arts that this jewel of a city is known for. I now am adding a side-trip to Stans on that excursion, as it sure sounds like hanging out with a large number of Pilatus hardware and the people who craft them would be a great way to cap off a trip to the EU.

Wal-Mart in the Cockpit?

The Internets are buzzing today about the fresh NTSB report just out describing the fatal crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Buffalo, NY. I am not going to rehash what happened in those last few moments before the plane stalled (read the pdf CVR transcript here) and nose-dove into the ground, and I am not going to place blame on the now-deceased pilots. There is enough of that going around tonight and I'm not going to pile on.

Instead, I am going to place blame on the regional airline system itself, in particular, the pathetically low wages that the regionals pay to most of their pilots. Yes, a Captain flying a RJ into the major hubs can make a decent living, but only after struggling through years of time building while earning about the equivalent salary as a clerk at Wal-Mart.

Sure, we all know that Wally World gets away with paying their cashiers such low wages because face it, these jobs are just not that hard to learn. But just how low is that anyway? The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has this:

"Wal-Mart pays an average hourly wage of $8.23 an hour, according to independent expert statistical analysis, which falls below basic living wage standards and even below poverty lines. Since “full time” at Wal-Mart is 34 hours a week according to company policy, full-time workers make a mere $17,114.24 a year—below the federal poverty level for a family of four. A "sales associate"earns on average $8.23 per hour ($13,861 annually) while a "cashier" earns about $7.92 per hour ($11,948 annually)."

That is about on par with the minimum wage here in Oregon, which rose for 2009 to $8.40 per hour, or $17,472/year for 52 40-hour weeks worth of work. And when you look at 2008 numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, yes, it appears on national average, airline pilots earn $123,500 per year on scheduled carriers and $86,060 on nonscheduled carriers. Those are some serious paychecks, about what you'd expect to pay someone who takes lives into their hands several times a day and must operate at a very high level of well-trained precision.

Those salaries however, must be skewed by the few international pilots who fly heavies over the poles...because according to today's Associated Press story on the crash of Flight 3407, low pay is one thing that is being probed by NTSB:

"The co-pilot in an airline crash that killed 50 people in upstate New York was paid a salary so low that she lived with her parents near Seattle and commuted across the country to her job, a combination of long travel and little money that a safety official called a "recipe for an accident." The second day of a three-day National Transportation Safety Board hearing Wednesday focused on whether Captain Marvin Renslow and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw were fatigued on the wintry night of Feb. 12 when they apparently made a series of critical errors as Continental Connection Flight 3407 approached Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Shaw, 24, had worked for Colgan Air of Manassas, Va., which operated the flight for Continental, for 13 months, flying 774 hours in her first year. Colgan pays its beginning first officers $21 an hour, which means she would have earned $16,254 that year, although she could have earned more if she worked more hours, said Roger Cox, an NTSB aviation safety expert."

Of course, Captain Marvin Renslow earned far more than the low wage paid his FO, which is par for the course on today's regional airline flight deck. But even if he earned the $67,000 per year that AP quotes in their story, it does not justify paying the right seat garbage wages just because the airline knows they have to build time en route to the left seat.

It is beyond my comprehension why there is such disparity in airline pilot salaries. Yes, I know the airline is taking advantage of young bucks fresh out of CFI school because the line knows they have to work somewhere to eventually become a Captain. Why pay them a fair wage when you can low-ball them and add the difference to your company's bottom line? So what if the FO has to eat dog food to stay alive, what's an FO's other options to move across the flight deck? Nada.

I know a few airline pilots, and even an FO on a Skywest Vibroliner launching out of FAT must train to a high safety standard that allows them to safely fly those passengers to their destination under any circumstances. So if a Brasilia driver must know as much about systems and safety as a high-time 777 driver at the bigs – and operate in the exact same IFR system – why would that FO's service be worth crap wages while the 777 driver earns a fat six-figure paycheck? Less people in back, shorter hops, yes, but I challenge anyone to tell me that the low-paid FO is less of a pilot. Maybe they're worth half of the 777 Captain's pay, but knowingly paying them the absolute minimum you can get away with is wrong on so many levels.

When a cashier at the big box store gets about the same wage for dragging beans across a scanner as a professional line pilot tasked with keeping a pressurized tube full of souls in the sky alive, there is something serious wrong with our current airline pay system. It is my hope that Colgan – and the other regional airlines who pay these insulting low wages – will get burned so bad by public and media flames that they are forced to increase FO pay to a level more in line with what that job is actually worth.

Lost in Translation: Get Your Locomozione On!

Each week I receive Google News Alerts from around the globe, urging me to click their link and read many foreign language articles on Terrafugia's groovy roadable airplane, the Transition. Today one came in from Italy that looked interesting. The only glitch is that I do not read Italian.

But today, we world wide web users do not have to read a language to view a foreign web site...thanks to a number of free translation services. What follows is a verbatim translation found here, and presented for no other reason than pure unadulterated yucks. It starts off pretty deep, like a wise Italian philosopher sitting high atop a mount:

"If the dream of the man is that one to fly, the dream of who goes to work is that one to avoid the ingorghi, exiting in all serenity from the garage of house without the incubus of the tails overhead. A little as remembered (them) the protagonists of the series to futurist animated designs of the Jackson's. The dream now has become truth. It will even pass still a little than time before being able to go in some store and to order it (or to order it), but we will not perhaps have not to wait for too much. The car that flies, or the airplane that moves on the earth like an car, is indeed and Terrafugia Transition is called."

What follows is some serious technical verbiage that tries to clear up just what the heck this flying car/roadable airplane jazz is all about:

"The Terrafugia Transition has detached from earth in order only 37 second ones, a time similar to that one of the first flight of the Wright siblings, it has made but it in “a thus normal” way to make to think that yes, the future is the much nearest one. The frontal sight evidences one of the particularities of this hybrid vehicle, that is the configuration with surface canard, that is the front position of the horizontal stabilizers, the small fins that seem of the moustaches and characterize also from the aesthetic point of view the Transition. An other curiosity, for that it regards the aeronautical part, is discovered watching it from the posterior part: own because draft of means that must also travel on road, and the driver must therefore be had the possibility to see how much happens to its shoulders, not is an only tail and centers them, but the tail is double, decided laterally regarding the fuselage, or nside that to say it wants. At last the propeller: it has posterior position, and obviously it centers them, but during the automotive march it is not of intralcio to the guide."

Got all that? Didn't think so. But wait...you knew there was more:

"Of the Transition the things are many that they hit, but that more detail regards the halves wing without a doubt. The change of configuration, from car airplane, happens in second 30 (a time similar to what the ones of a cabriolet must attend for the opening or the closing of the canopy), and the video that appears on the situated interesting of the Terrafugia is indeed illuminant. The speed on the four wheels is of 65 miles hour, to the maximums of the speed concurred on the American roads. As aircraft has a cruise speed of approximately 185 km/h, a speed of spin (that is that to catch up in order to carry out the takeoff) of 130 km/h, and in order to detach itself from earth have need little more than 500 meters. The stall speed that is approximately 83 Km/h, while in flight it has an important autonomy, that is 450 miles, little more than 700 kilometers. That, as an example, it could concur to everyone of we, to exit from the garage to Brescia, to arrive to Montichiari, to enter in track, to take off, to land to Fiumicino and to arrive until in center to Rome without having to change half of locomozione. Not but those of the dimensions, substantially similar to a Piper PA 28, even if slightly more reduced."

Now this is indeed progress. I mean, really, haven't we all been looking for a better way to get from our garage in Brescia to arrive until the center of Rome without having to change half of locomozione?

Head Rolls Over VC-25 NYC Flyover

By now everyone knows about the bungled photo shoot late last month involving low passes over Manhattan by VC-25 – Air Force One when the President is on board – and a couple of fighter jets. The traditional media reported numerous cases of panic in the streets of New York City as people watched in horror as a very large, very ominous jet being "chased" by fighters flew low and slow over their offices and homes. There are numerous Youtube videos up now that show the commotion this flight caused.

On this blog as well as 1,000s of others, we have all agreed that this shot could have been made in Photoshop. It was in fact a pilot training mission as well, so the costs – estimated at about $328,835 – would still have been spent as the crew trained in the same ship but in a different location.

For many, this is not so much about the cost as it is about an obvious lack of good judgment by someone The White House Military Office. And now, CNN and others are reporting that this episode has cost someone their job:

"President Obama has accepted the resignation of Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office responsible for the controversial low-altitude flyover of New York by a 747 plane used as Air Force One, the White House said Friday."

Caldera has – in the usual Washington manner – gone off to spend more time with his family. CNN has Caldera's "official" quote:

"I have concluded that the controversy surrounding the Presidential Airlift Group's aerial photo shoot over New York City has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office," Caldera said in a letter to Obama. "Moreover, it has become a distraction to the important work you are doing as president. After much reflection, I believe it is incumbent on me to tender my resignation and step down as director of the White House Military Office."

President Obama was said to be "furious" and for good reason. Any thinking man or woman would have foreseen the possibilities that existed in this mission to open wounds that have not begin to fully heal, even so many years after 09.11.01. So Caldera made the right choice, even though when you read the full CNN article, it appears others were the boneheads who made this incredible poor decision.

Kudos for Caldera for taking the sword for his department, but the actual people who threw this photo shoot together ought to consider going off to, um, spend more time with their families too.

This kind of insensitive crap is so last administration.

Five Freakin' Thousand.

(Editor's note: This one is pulled from the Nov. 2007 archives, but with all the chatter about bird strikes these days in the traditional media, I thought you-all might enjoy it - dan)

The one thing that pilots can never defend against is a bird strike. You plan for them, trying to figure out what you're going to do when one happens. And that is (1) to try to avoid a direct hit in your face, and (2) fly what remains of your airplane to a safe landing ASAP.

On occasion, you will hear ATIS warn of "caution, birds in the vicinity of the airport", or something that raises your consciousness level about avoiding birds to a higher level. If you are departing, you try and get through the first 1,000 feet AGL without making contact with Tweety Grande. If you are on final, you keep focused in the numbers, knowing that a strike close to the ground at approach speeds means you have very little room to let control of the plane slip away.

A couple of years ago, I came about as close to a bird strike as I care to ever be. Here is what came down:

As I prepped for Thanksgiving, I realized I had a couple of hours at dusk to hit EUG and practice a couple of landing procedures in 27W. As I pre-flighted in the hangar, I had the scanner glued to ATIS, which warned of "birds in the vicinity of the airport." I cruised to the run-up box and then departed 34L with a mid-runway intersection takeoff. The controller asked if I preferred moving to the east side of the field to use 34R for my touch and go's, which I accepted. I slipped into a nice smooth right downwind, the 235 settling into the perfect 500 FPM descent. That was about the last time this approach felt normal.

For those readers who do not know the terrain surrounding the Eugene Airport, there is a large lake just southwest of the field that is apparently the perfect love nest for a quarter of a zillion migratory birds. It is not at all uncommon to see those awesome giant Vs of geese flying off to winter in Cabo, or wherever they spend the coldest parts of the year:

As I turned base to final for my first practice landing, the controller came on and told me something that I swear is true...you can listen to the ATC tapes if you want. He told me, and I quote..."Cherokee 8527W, caution – I have returns, uh, it looks like a flock of maybe FIVE THOUSAND GEESE moving east to west across the north end of 34R at about 300 feet AGL. Are you SURE you want to do a touch and go right now?"

Now I promise you, hearing that there are five grand worth of flying objects in my direct path, any one of which can cause possible catastrophic damage to my plane, well that really got my attention! So I called for a full stop, and as I passed through 300 AGL, I might have dug fingernail grooves in the yoke.

See, I had NO FRICKIN' IDEA how much actual airspace five thousand geese takes up, but I was pretty sure that a few of the stragglers with bad nav systems might have drifted south of the westbound pack, and could have very well been over the approach end of 34R – right where I was. So I braced for impact, mentally thinking about ducking when Tweety Grande meets my windscreen. It was the crapiest approach and landing yet in my new 235, but in many ways, when I touched down with a thud and realized I still had my life and my airplane in one piece, the landing felt like a greaser from heaven. It's always nice to know Papa Louie has my back.

I'm writing this stuffed to the brim after Thanksgiving dinner, and I have to say, birds look best when laid out on the dinner table between candied yams and cranberry sauce, not lollygagging along near my airport.

This is News Nobody Wants to Hear

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association represents 66 fixed wing airframe manufacturers, and is our best benchmark for telling just how foul this economy is right now as far as general aviation is concerned.

From the looks of numbers released today, it is as foul as a a load of tufu rotting in an un-refrigerated 45-foot trailer in the hot sun in Fresno in August. Yes, I've been there, and trust me, it was plenty foul, just not as foul as GAMA's release:

Today GAMA stated that in the first three months of 2009, deliveries of general aviation airplanes totaled 462 units, a 41.1 percent drop from the same period last year, with industry billings falling 18.2 percent to $4.34 billion. “This is an extremely difficult time for our industry,” said GAMA President and CEO, Pete Bunce. “We are dealing first and foremost with the severe negative effects of a worldwide economic downturn, but also with unwarranted criticism focused on the industry. The result has been the cancellation of orders for new airplanes and the loss of more than 15,000 high-paying jobs for American workers over the last several months.

The reality is that the U.S. general aviation industry leads the world in innovation and remains one of the few American industries with a positive balance of trade.” Bunce added, “We will continue to work with governments around the world to recognize that general aviation can play a key role in propelling the economic recovery.”

The piston airplane segment was down 55.1 percent in the first quarter, with 179 units delivered as compared to 399 airplanes in the first three months of 2008. The turboprop segment was the only segment that experienced growth in the first quarter with 92 units delivered, up from 89 units during the same period in 2008 for a 3.4 percent increase. Business jet shipments fell 35.7 percent in the first quarter with 191 airplanes delivered, as compared to 297 business jets in the first quarter of 2008.

Ouch, pistons down over 55%! When we think of pistons, we think of Cessna and Cirrus, so it is no surprise both have taken quite a somber tone of late. Sure, Cirrus is ramping up again slowly, and yes, Cessna has cut the Columbus and closed their Bend plant trying to restructure and save coin. But considering that their sales could both be down roughly HALF, it is most notable that neither one has closed their doors.

And while the 3.4% increase in turboprops is a welcome bump, it has little power in offsetting these dismal 1Q09 numbers. We've all been waiting for this GAMA report (pdf), and it illustrates just how hard this fight is to keep ALL of our legacy makers in the game.

So do GA a favor, so buy a Cirrus or Cessna today. Just don't take out some screwy interest-only, adjustable-rate, annual reset loan that you can't possibly pay off...because it's that kind of crap that brought us all here in the first place.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Moves One Step Closer to a First Flight

I haven't posted about Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in a while, since the program seems to have developed a keen ability to lull us into a sort of impatient trance. Each time previously when we began to get excited about Dreamliner, somehow the program would sing us a lullaby and we'd go back to that mysterious place, a place that takes from us our ability to care much about the 787 program's endless delays...waiting, and waiting before moving on to the next aviation story.

But news today (05.03.09) out of Everett shows that finally, there is significant movement in the program, quite literally it seems (from Boeing's release):

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner that will fly later this quarter has moved from the paint hangar to the flight line. Fuel testing - the first in the next phase of extensive checks the airplane must undergo - will begin in the next few days. "We are making great progress, and moving ever-closer to first flight," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 Dreamliner program.

When you stop to consider the battery of tests ZA001 – this first testing 787 – has completed, it sure looks like they are very close to lighting this thing off and pointing it skyward (again, from Boeing):

In recent weeks, the 787 completed a rigorous series of tests including build verification tests, structures and systems integration tests, landing gear swings and factory gauntlet, which is the full simulation of the first flight using the actual airplane. With Chief Pilot Mike Carriker at the controls, the simulation tested all flight controls, hardware and software. The simulation also included manual and automatic landings and an extensive suite of subsequent ground tests. All structural tests required on the static airframe prior to first flight also are complete. The final test occurred April 21 when the wing and trailing edges were subjected to their limit load - the highest loads expected to be seen in service. The load is about the same as the airplane experiencing 2.5 times the force of gravity. On April 13, the leading edge of the wing was subjected to its limit load while the rest of the airplane was subjected to loads expected at cruise. And in September 2008, the "high blow" high-pressure test was completed on the static airframe. During that test, the airframe reached an internal pressure of 150 percent of the maximum levels expected to be seen in service.

On the slate now are additional power and systems tests as well as engine run-ups. After completing a series of high-speed taxi tests, Boeing vows to launch later this quarter, which means by the end of June. And according to their latest Dreamliner press release, their order book shows 886 airplanes ordered from 57 customers. And you can just about bet the farm those 57 customers are as ready as anyone to see the coolest airliner ever actually fly.

The White House Blew This One

Back on April 27th, the good people of New York City were scared half out of their wits by the sight of a 747 escorted by a couple of fighter jets low and slow just above skyscraper level. The people below were justifiably mortified since these are people who will never, ever get over 09.11.01, for good reason.

This was however not a act of aggression against America, no, these were United States military planes. In fact, the big honkin' one was AIR FORCE ONE – without the President on board – and the secret mission being flown was...a photo shoot. Seems someone in the White House press office thought it'd be a gas to have some new images of AF1 with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

The sight of low flying airliners over Manhattan caused a great deal of panic, and while NYPD was briefed, the public had not been, for security purposes. So reports came out everywhere of people running into the streets, and whole buildings of people freaking the hell out. Jeez, who could have saw THAT coming?

After the story broke, the White House apologized, and President Obama – who apparently did not know this was planned – was said to be "furious" when he heard about the photo op. Ya think?

The Huffington Post reports the cost of this photo op at $328,835, and in these troubled times, one has to wonder why the beautiful shots the WH already has of AF1 wasn't good enough. And while analyzing this story, HuffPo joined, oh, about a GAZILLION other media outlets, photographers, graphic designers, and of course, MR. OBVIOUS, in publicly wondered this:

In this digital world that we live in, it is rare to find an image of any kind that hasn't been ran through Photoshop, if only for color and exposure correction. In fact, trying to find an advertising or publicity image that hasn't been manipulated in some way is impossible. There are ethical guidelines we Photoshop professionals must adhere to, and the most important is to not deceive the viewer. Remove a parked car here, green up the grass there, maybe even make a model a tad thinner, all perfectly acceptable. Usually, it would not be acceptable to photograph Air Force One over the Atlantic and Photoshop it flying by the Manhattan skyline...that is deception. But if anyone had stopped this train wreck of a photo shoot long enough to think it through, surely it made more sense to produce the shot in Photoshop than to spend almost $400K to scare the crap out of the perfectly happy citizens of NYC.

To prove their point, HuffPo's artist spent $6 on a stock photo of NYC and whipped up an acceptable example...in a reported 90 seconds. I created a similar low-rez web image at the top of this post in about 4 minutes. Had I made this a high-resolution image and spent some time on it, I can assure you that 99% of Photoshop users would not have found one thing to indicate the -47 was not actually flying over Manhattan when the shutter was clicked.

One of NYC's own papers, The New York Daily News, has taken this "should have used Photoshop" theory much further, and has been running a contest where viewers can submit their own Photoshopped creations of AF1 flying in all sorts of crazy places. The submission showing AF1 buzzing King Kong as the monkey hangs off the Empire State Building is hilarious.

Sometimes, I wonder how anyone in our Federal Government functions day-to-day. I seriously hope my President speaks his mind to the people in charge of making the poor decision to complete this ill-timed shoot in airspace that is much more sensitive to low-flying airliners than any other. Had I been the current occupant of the Oval Office when this gigantic mistake happened, heads would have rolled.

Great News from the White House for NATCA

There has been some great movements forward for our Air Traffic Controllers in their long battle with FAA to get a fair labor deal. Yesterday, three of my ATC friends/readers sent me the following from NATCA's Patrick Forrey, which I have chosen to publish verbatim:

Brothers and sisters,

I am proud and excited today to share the first bit of good news that has come from our determined efforts to convince the White House that our nearly 1,000-day struggle to end the FAA’s brutal trampling of our fair collective bargaining rights has been so detrimental to the workforce, the National Airspace System and the safety of the flying public that it must be addressed now and not put on hold until the arrival of a confirmed FAA administrator later this spring.

Today, the Obama Administration has made the announcement of the appointment of a team of mediators to immediately address our contract dispute with the agency. It’s a key first step toward the goal that we all share: An end to the FAA’s imposed work rules and unfair pay system and a fairly negotiated successor agreement to the 2003 CBA that all of you can ratify.

Here is what I issued as NATCA’s official statement to the press after the White House’s announcement:

“With this bold step, President Obama is fulfilling his commitment to the safety and modernization of the air traffic control system and to the dedicated men and women safety professionals who run the system each day. President Obama is showing the leadership that will guide a positive way forward in which aviation safety professionals will be included as valued stake holders. As the president made clear, a resolution to the dispute is critical to stabilizing the controller workforce, restoring a collaborative working relationship between controllers and the FAA and successfully installing the Next Generation Air Transportation System needed to spur economic development and increase the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of air travel.

“I would like to thank Secretary LaHood for his leadership and commitment to resolving this issue.”

Let me share a bit about how the past couple of weeks have played out here in Washington.

On April 16, I met with administration officials. It was a very positive meeting. The Obama Administration definitely understands what the Bush Administration did to the hard-working aviation safety professionals we represent. They understand the long, hard struggle that you all have faced to try and serve the flying public and maintain the safety of the system while being treated with such utter disrespect and unfairness. They understand how the FAA’s pay rules have forced new trainees to quit, led thousands of our most experienced controllers to retire early to escape the brutal treatment and lack of an increase to their retirement annuity, and removed any incentive to want to transfer to busier facilities, leaving many large TRACONS and other key facilities dangerously understaffed and overburdened with inexperienced trainees.

The administration made it clear that our contract issue was a high priority and were anxious to address it immediately, resolve the dispute and then move forward in a spirit of collaboration and renewed focus on problem solving and advancing system modernization efforts. The fact that this meeting took place on the 87th day of the new administration – within the well-known “First 100 Days” benchmark for evaluating the progress of a new president – speaks volumes about the dedication of OUR president and longtime champion of our cause for fairness, to NATCA’s most important issue.

Moving forward from this announcement, there are not many details to share. We have not yet ironed them out. But the administration wants it to come together quickly.

I know that you all must have a lot of questions right now and will be very hungry for any details when the negotiations begin. I certainly understand that desire to stay informed and I will do my very best to keep you as up to date as I can. But please understand the extremely sensitive nature of what is now finally transpiring.

There will be very few details that will be allowed to leave the negotiating table, for good reason. My main concern is that you all get a fair process and a ratifiable agreement. We will not be doing any press activity today or in the days to come beyond my brief, aforementioned statement. We will not be negotiating in the press.

We are being given an opportunity at a fair process to negotiate a ratifiable agreement. I respectfully ask that we all keep the tone of our comments and expectations at an even keel.

This is a great day, brothers and sisters. But it’s only the first day. The end of our long struggle is within sight but it’s still a few steps away. I ask you all to stay strong, stay united, and stay patient. The work you put into helping to elect leaders here in Washington who value your work, respect your commitment to the safety of the flying public and now are demanding your fair treatment is finally paying off. I hope to report back to you very soon with more good news.

In solidarity,
Pat Forrey
President NATCA

See, your vote DOES Matter. One White House snubs NATCA, while another vows to work with/for them. Maybe it's because the former occupant wasn't able to connect the right dots to see the importance in having well-paid, rested, experienced controllers pushing tin across our skies.

And for the new occupant, this issue is simply a no-brainer.