Halt! Stop!
Alto! Arrêt!
Anschlag!

You, with the airplane, do not step into my country without your papers!! You do have your papers? What!! No papers!! Then you are under arrest!! Guards, handcuff this man!! Seize his pretty airplane!! Mr. American pilotman, you will rot in my foreign jail until you can produce your papers!!

Extreme? O.K., this dramatization might be a touch over the top, unless you are at a Mexican border crossing after January 23rd flying home from a killer fishing trip in Cabo, and you’ve never heard of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

The what?

AOPA is reporting that they've so far unsuccessful in convincing the Department of Homeland Security or the Bureau of Consular Affairs to extend the requirements that any GA pilot returning back into the United States must have a passport, once the WHTI is being enforced.

From AOPA:

You have less than two months to obtain a passport if you are planning to fly to Canada, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Mexico, or other points in Central and South America next year. Starting January 23, you'll need a passport to enter (or re-enter) the United States under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative — your birth certificate and government-issued photo ID won't work anymore. And you'll need a passport whether you are flying in your own general aviation aircraft or if you're an airline passenger.

Now I stay up on aviation news regularly, and never saw this coming. So it is a SURE BET that other fat, dumb and happy pilots will soon be getting the surprise of their lives if they’ve also not yet heard of this new law. And you'll be really, really screwed if you're standing on the wrong side of the border when you find this out.

The Feds announced the requirement last week as part of a broader initiative to secure U.S. borders. AOPA had requested that the WHTI not be extended to GA until 2008 to allow the association more time to inform pilots of the changes.

Now I am all for securing our borders. I laugh when I hear clowns say we are in Iraq to “fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.” That argument loses all of it’s credibility when you look at the porous border we share with Mexico. Can the war mongers promise that there won’t be a handful of Taliban or al Qaeda mixed in with the honest broccoli pickers and nannies that stroll easily into California and Arizona at the alarming rate of hundreds per day?

If the Feds are going to suddenly require all air travelers to now have a passport, shouldn’t it be easier and cheaper to obtain one than this:

The initial first-time fee for a new passport for citizens age 16 and older is $55, plus a $12 security surcharge, and a $30 execution fee. Total cost is $97. Passport processing time is normally six weeks. Expedited service can be provided for an additional fee of $60 plus all overnight delivery charges. This service will get you a passport in two weeks.

So now my readers have been informed. Here are a few links to get you up to speed fast:

AOPA’s story about the WHTI is found here
Their online guide to obtaining a passport can be found here
Here is an FAQ from the Bureau of Consular Affairs
The Press Release from Homeland Security can be found here

First Citation Mustang Delivered

I’ve been sitting on this for a few weeks, but now that it’s been released on Cessna’s corporate website, I can finally post this story.

On November 1, I was lucky be one of the first writers to sit down across the desk from the man who now holds the keys to the very first Cessna Citation Mustang to be delivered. Grinning widely, Kent Scott of Scott Aircraft, based at Fresno – Yosemite International Airport (FAT), told a tale of how he acquired the Mustang.

I had never met Kent before our chat, but anytime I can get face-to-face time with a former 747 Captain, I’m there. So with my wife Julie, we sat quietly mesmerized as Kent told us about his plans to shake up the Fresno aviation community as soon as Mustang No. 1 – his new baby – touched down at FAT.

First a little background: My history with FAT goes back about 40 years. I was born and raised in Fresno, and I hung on my first airport fence at the arrival end of FAT’s 29L. I learned to fly at FAT where I flew my first pattern that required sandwiching a Cessna 150 Aerobat in between“a flight of F-16s” and a UPS Boeing 767. I have actually rented planes for my flight training in a second story office literally right above Kent’s desk.

The facility where Scott Aircraft is located also seems familiar, because its previous owner, the late Bob Purcell, was my ad agency’s first aviation client. Bob helped us break into the aviation market, so it was especially sweet to be back there on previously home turf listening to a very proud new business jet owner talk of soon taking ownership of what will become known as a very historic Citation Mustang.

As he talked about his aggressive but very attainable developments at FAT and Fresno Chandler Executive Airport (FCH), I soon realized that this man is a valuable commodity in our aviation community – a forward thinker. Kent has big plans to bring FAT and FCH out of the holding pattern the two fields have been stuck in for three decades...and the centerpiece of that transition is Citation Mustang No. 1.

The value of owning the very first of any model – especially one as sexy as the Citation Mustang – is obvious, because there can only be one No. 1. Sure, No. 2 is just as beautiful as No. 1, and No. 3 flies just as fast as No. 2. But when it comes to flat out bragging rights, there simply is nothing finer than saying you own No. 1.

Mustang No. 1 will be going out for 10 months as a Cessna demonstrator before arriving back at FAT and Scott Aircraft for good. It’s a sure bet that Kent will still be smiling when it returns, mostly because of what his new jet can do:

The six-place Citation Mustang has a top speed of 340 KTAS (nearly 400 miles per hour), a range of 1,150 NM and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet. It needs just 3,110 feet for takeoff, and lands in just 2,390 feet.

I came away with this interview with a much higher level of respect for the Cessna Citation line, and in particular, for the Mustang. Kent made it easy to understand how the $2.7 million price for the Mustang represents a great value, and how the versatile new design deserves to join the global fleet of more than 4,500 Citations, the largest fleet of business jets in the world. Talking bizjets with Kent is entertaining because he easily delivers non-stop figures comparing the Mustang to the Eclipse 500, the Hondajet, the Adam A700, the Phenom 100, the PC-12 or the Piperjet. And while some of it wasn’t pretty – often even blunt – it was however, all quite true. The guy just makes a great spokesman for the Mustang, which may answer the question of how he ended up owning No. 1.


A poster of my dream bird, the Cirrus SR22 GTS, hangs in my office, and those who read this blog regularly know that my life will not be called complete until our SR is hangered down the street at EUG. My agency is growing along with the aviation business community as a whole, and there’s a day coming – maybe in 2007 or early 2008 – when we’ll need that Cirrus to call on clients and visit grandkids throughout the West.

But every so often, dreams of owning a plane like the Mustang creep into my thoughts. That wild excursion into fantasyland always end the same – with the realization that the six things that stand in my way between the anticipation of wanting a Mustang and the sheer elation of owning one are these Powerball numbers: 3, 5, 23, 41, 44 and 1.

It’s a little too early to break specific news of what Kent Scott has planned for Fresno’s two airports. But trust me when I say that if you want to catch a glimpse of what the future of flight training looks like, keep your eye on Fresno. It will be electrifying, it will be bold, and it will be very, very exciting.

So you think
you’ve got
the chops?

One of my favorite daily stops as I peruse the Internets is Aero-News Network. They stay on top of all the daily aviation news in real-time, and do a damn fine job of it.

ANN is however growing, and has put out the call for additional editorial staffing. If you love airplanes, can write with class under the hammer of daily deadlines, then here is your dream [part-time] job. From their site:

Truth is, though... this job is A LOT more fun than it is "work," and that's what working at ANN is all about. Now the time has come to add (yet another) soul to our growing family. If you're looking for an entry point into the growing field of REAL TIME aviation reporting, this might just be the job for you -- as an Associate Editor for ANN! It's a part-time gig... needing several hours each day, three days per week, on a flexible schedule. You can work from anywhere, as long as you have a good high-speed internet connection and the appropriate tools to pursue the day's stories.

It’s that part that says you can “work from anywhere” which ought to catch your eye. We live in a virtual world, and where you do your Internet-based work does not matter, so long as your ISP keeps your broadband up and running. Working from home or the closest Starbucks has its (forgive the pun) perks:

Since this job is computer based, it does not matter where you live and we are, of course, unconcerned about your workspace so long as the job gets done (and the less info we have about someone working in pink shorts and fuzzy bunny slippers, the better).

Here are the job requirements, verbatim off their site:

SOLID aviation/aerospace writing and journalism credentials/abilities; SOLID photographic/graphic web smarts; Basic web skills (light HTML know-how and some grasp of photo-editing) and E-Mail skills; A strong work/journalism ethic (we're not kidding around here) and an ability to meet and adhere to tight deadlines; RELIABLE full-time access to a fairly speedy Internet connection (DSL, ADSL, T1, T3, Pipeline to the Almighty, etc...); Computer with the ability to keep up with a number of graphic chores and editorial efforts; And the ability to work with a very strange crew of ANN weirdoes.

One thing that is missing from the story is salary offered. That doesn’t mean there isn’t money to be made, it only means you ought to ask that question point blank, unless you are in the resume-building phase of your writing career.

But if you want to get involved with a group of other writers who understands how to cover aviation in a very professional way, here is their contact info:

Snail Mail
Aero-News Network, POB 9132, Winter Haven, FL 33883

Phones/Fax
863-299-8680
800-356-7767 (voice mail equipped)
863-294-3678 (FAX)

Click here to email ANN

The best
just keeps
getting better.

Because of my occupation, I receive nearly all the flying magazines and newspapers either by subscription or through comps. My agency runs ads in many of them for our aviation clients, so as part of a day’s work, I stay up on what’s what inside these publications.

It is through this daily process that I determined long ago that my favorite among all of these magazines is AOPA Pilot. Editor Tom Haines works the helm at Pilot with a consistent mastery that delivers appealing, newsworthy stories every issue. When you mix their outstanding editorial content with Mike Fizer's cutting edge air-to-air photography, AOPA Pilot is hard to top. They relate to all pilots on all levels, and offer an insight in the battles GA faces in Washington that no other magazine can touch.

Up until recently, select portions of AOPA Pilot could be found online. It was nice, but in AOPA’s never-ending efforts to completely blow our minds, they have taken their online magazine experience to a new level. One word sums up this latest move by AOPA: Multimedia.

Visit their new site here and check out the beautiful new streaming video stories, part of the “Members Only” features. There’s enough surprises on this new site to keep you from actually doing any real work on your computer for quite a while. If you are a member, click here for a piece on the American Barnstomers Tour.

What, you’re not an AOPA member? Are you NUTS? Had your head examined lately? So just who do you think is going to fight for GA up on Capitol Hill…Marion Blakey? For just $39 bucks a year, you get the enormous power of AOPA at your fingertips. You get their legislative team up there on the Hill duking it out with the Bushies who want to stab us in the back with user fees and send GA back to the stone age. But best of all, you get each issue of AOPA Pilot delivered right to your door. Imagine that, right to your door, through rain, snow, sleet and even hail.

If you are not a member, do the right thing and join today. Then go check out the multimedia wonderland that AOPA’s whiz kids have put together.

Fat, Dumb and Happy.

You all know the drill when you get pulled over by the State Trooper. “I didn’t see the speed limit sign, Officer” or “I was late to go volunteer helping to feed orphaned kittens,", whatever excuse works to get you out of the ticket. My mom actually wrapped her arm in a towel once and tried to convince Barney Fife that she had cut herself and was on the way to the emergency room. It worked, but to be truthful, she was married to a Fresno P.D. officer at the time and knew every uniform in town.

But if you bust a TFR and get slapped by the FAA, saying you didn’t know about it simply won’t be good enough any more, as long as you had access to a computer at home before you departed, or at an FBO on field while transient.

The FAA has a few web sites that makes finding all NOTAMs and TFRs immediate and specific to your intended route.

Here is the 411:

Graphical TFR search:
URL: http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html

Hot tip: Just go to the Google and enter TFRS…this way you don’t even have to remember a web address. What you’ll get as the first result is the FAA’s real-time Graphic TFR site, updated the minute the TFR hits the National Airspace System (NAS).

On this very complete site is all that you need to stay the heck away from wayward politicians or firebombers dropping their loads over a forest fire. Since these fires can pop up fast and the tankers often launch within minutes, there is always still a chance to sneak into trouble after you depart. But generally, a look at the latest TFRs before you actually phone in for your briefing is always a very good idea.

NOTAM search:
URL: https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov

After accessing this site, you click “Flight Path Search” in the NOTAMS box, enter your departure patch, a couple of important waypoints and final destination, and submit. Up pops every possible NOTAM you would ever need, including ones for small possible alternate airports along the route. Nice way to find out if you’re going to be flying through someone’s waivered airspace over the little Airshow at Tumbleweed Municipal Airport.

NAS Real-time status:
URL: http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/plaintext.html

This FAA site shows exactly what is going on in the NAS, which major airports are being impacted by WX, and what you might expect if you are flying commercially. I check this one before leaving the house to begin any flight in the airliners. You’ll see this kind of info:

Due to WEATHER/LOW CIGS/WIND and WEATHER/LOW CIGS, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA (PHL). This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 11 minutes. To see if you may be affected, select your departure airport and check "Delays by Destination".

There are still a few old-timers out there who refuse to use the Internets for flight planning….but their numbers are shrinking. These days, with a PC capable of surfing the ‘Nets and emailing priced at about $600 with display, there is no excuse for not having one in your house.

Computers and technology should never be allowed to replace a real phone briefing with a real human at 1.800.WX BRIEF, but checking these sites and a few WX sites like DUATS or wunderground.com before you call allows your brain to more easily wrap itself around the briefer’s words, allowing for much better comprehension of the big picture.

You really have no excuse for fat, dumb and happy anymore.

Seriously screwed
up priorities.

This is the kind of thing that has some pilots actually considering moving to Costa Rica…for good:

It appears to be more important for our Federal government to spend $344,023,218,699 (that’s $344 billion and change – as of Nov. 21, 2006 at 1729Z**) to blast innocent Iraqis out of what’s still left of their homes than for the FAA to spend $100 million to make sure the power stays on at their ATC Centers so large airliners full of tourists can avoid trading paint.

According to a report by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the FAA needs to spend up to $100 million NOW to make sure the lights, computers and consoles stay powered up at its most important air traffic control facilities. This is in response to repeated power failures that shut down the ILS and led to the intentional disabling of the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) at LAX.

The report explains that last July 18, a traffic accident knocked out power to L.A. Center:

The center’s backup system did activate and ran for about an hour before a component failed and the screens went blank. A technician tried to bring the system back online manually, but that caused another failure. More than 300 flights were affected.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has asked the DOT to investigate the L.A. Center power failures. In his response to Boxer, DOT Inspector General Calvin L. Scovell III is reported to have said this:

“The power problems at Los Angeles Center could be repeated at other major ATC facilities and the FAA needs to fix the problems sooner rather than later.” He also noted that there’s no money in the FAA budget for the project.

So let me get this straight. There seems to be an endless river of imaginary money flowing to the defense department and a select group of contractor cronies to fund this loser of a war Bush got us into, but no money to upgrade power systems at FAA facilities?

Maybe it’s this kind of illogical thinking that was on the minds of voters November 7 when they sent these power-crazed clowns in Congress packing.

When it comes to airline safety, what could possibly be more important than keeping the juice flowing to the guys and gals in our headsets that somehow manage to maintain separation when the sky is filled with westbound birds all descending on one small patch at the edge of Los Angeles metro?

** This figure for the cost of the Iraq war is from a site called the National Priorities Project, which shows a running total that is supposed to be changing in something resembling real-time. The current number that was shown at 2140Z today would have provided 16,682,705 students with four-year scholarships at public universities – dp

Last (Full Fare) Airline
Standing, Part Duex

New revelations into the proposed $8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines by US Airways came to light this week when ATWOnline ran with this headline:

US Airways: New Delta will be 'low-cost maverick'

The news that US Airways plans to operate the “New Delta” as a Low Cost Carrier (LCC) might end up being great news for passengers, but not so great if you’re American Airlines or United. That’s because if this merger is approved by US Dept. of Justice antitrust officials, and the “New Delta” joins Southwest, Jetblue and Airtran in the highly competitive LCC market, it will leave AA and UA as the two largest full-fare carriers in our sky.

As the number of full-fare carriers dwindle, it gets harder and harder for those legacy carriers to justify their wildly fluctuating fares, when their competitors are offering consistently low (and affordable) fares.

I have always been seriously skeptical of the way full-fare airlines figure out their fares anyway. Depending on how and when your ticket was purchased can mean one passenger snagging a hot deal off of the Internets, and a business person in need of some emergency F2F (face-to-face) time with a client having to shell out $1,200… to sit right next to the priceline dude! Both pax are going from A to B in the same pressurized tube at the exact same velocity – the only difference is that one got a royal screwing, and one got a fair deal.

I have yet to fly Jetblue or Southwest, as they just never seem to ever fly the routes that take me where I need to be. But I did fly Airtran from ATL to IAD (Dulles) recently for $49 each way. That’s cheaper than a train ticket.

Flying an LCC does not mean too many givebacks either these days. The difference between the snack served to me on Airtran’s short hop service and the one American gives me on their sleek 777 coast-to-coaster is…NO DIFFERENCE!

A bag of pretzels is a bag of pretzels, regardless of the price of admission.

So we will wait and see whether the Federalis approve this new deal with US Airways and Delta. But since the marriage of America West and US Airways, fares on the resulting airline have been reported to be on a downward trend. It would be awesome if the “New Delta” continues that slide, and succeeds in bringing LCC fares to a much larger portion of the traveling public.

Now if they can just do
something about those pretzels…

The Ikarus
has landed.

To those stalwarts in the GA community who are still kicking and screaming as we move into an aviation world that includes Sport Pilots and Light Sport Aircraft, I have a news flash for you:

Get over it.

In my personal aviation world, LSA has finally arrived front and center. The Cessna Skyhawk that I fly (at least when the Hobbs is turning) now has a stablemate, and it’s damn cute, very practical, and will be a hit, guaranteed.

CFI Dorothy Schick, owner of TakeWing Flying Club at Hobby Field in Creswell, OR now has a brand new Ikarus C42E on her line, fresh off a round-the world journey from the Comco Ikarus factory in Germany. As soon as she and Paul King – the club’s other CFI – “learn to fly” the C42E and prepare some study materials, the C42E will become the dreamchaser for many new people who have finally made that wonderful decision to take flying lessons.

Here are a few thing that stand out in the specs on the C42E:

• It is powered by a 4-cylinder, 4-stroke Rotax 100 hp 912ULS opposed-cylinder engine with electric start and dual electronic ignition,
• The 3-blade Neuform (Glass fibre/Carbon) prop is ground adjustable,
• Fuel consumption @ cruise is an almost unbelievable 3 US gallons/hr,
• It weighs just 715 lbs. empty – I've ate steaks that weigh more than that.

A few initial comments after Dorothy flew the C42E for the first time:

“I flew the Ikarus C42E yesterday and honestly, I was blown-away! What a great flying airplane! Stable, easy to fly, great visibility, quick and nimble - excellent handling characteristics! Stalls are so easy that it makes them a non-event. Flying behind a Rotax liquid-cooled engine means waiting for the coolant temperature to rise, and we’re using 3500 rpm for the mag check.”

There are – reports Dorothy – a few minor ergonomic items that new Ikarus pilots must learn, but none so bizarre that a current pilot could not overcome with ease. And for new Sport pilot students who have never flown anything else, they won’t know that the flap handle is not usually found on the ceiling of the plane, or that the throttle being on a lever between your legs is just kinda weird.

I know that there are worldwide readers of WoF checking into this blog daily, but I’m also very proud of my local readership, which seems to be growing. So this next part is for those of you in and around the Eugene, OR area:

If you thought flight training was going to generate a bill that could approach $10 grand, think again. Earning your Sport Pilot certificate while learning to fly in TakeWing’s Ikarus C42E will cost maybe half of that, and be just as much fun. Yes, there’ll be a few limitations to your new ticket, but it is not a big leap to extend your flight privileges to those of a Private Pilot after mastering an LSA. If you ever wanted to start flying, click this link and begin the journey. You will not find a more nurturing, friendly and safe environment in which to begin your Sport Pilot training.

LSA is here, it’s not going away, so the GA community might as well embrace it with both arms. I salute Dorothy and those at TakeWing for making the investment to bring quality Sport Pilot training to this area.

The next big thing in reality television: “Last Airline Standing”

Logline: All of the major airlines in the United States are in a dog-eat-dog competition. In each week’s episode, they are pitted against one another in intense competitions and tests of skill as they fight to make a profit. At the end of each show, the CEOs meet on a beach lit with Tiki Torches to “vote off” one of the airlines. The remaining airlines then make secretive back-door deals, where the richest of the competitors buys out their weaker opponents, ultimately leaving one airline that will be named:

USAirwaysDeltaTWAmeriSouthwestPANAMerican

O.K., that is total B.S., but the story flying around the Internets today about a possible takeover bid by US Airways to scoop Delta up off the bankruptcy court floor and create the world’s largest airline is about that absurd.

To say that this merger would shake things up in commercial aviation would be a gross understatement. One quick change would be gate assignments:

Analysts said that to address regulators' antitrust concerns, the combined company would also need to forfeit airport gates up and down the East Coast. If U.S. Airways succeeds in its $8 billion bid for Delta Air Lines, there could be a lot of competition for gates that would be opened up at airports in Boston, New York and Washington.

This merger idea comes in the wake of US Airways snatching up America West, a move that has really ticked off the guys and gals that do their flying:

The US Airways and America West pilot groups will conduct informational picketing Thursday, November 16 in North Carolina and Arizona to demonstrate their increasing frustration with management's unwillingness to fully participate in negotiations for a fair, single contract that addresses the pilots' basic needs.

If you read some of the articles out there today, you can’t help but to agree with Captain Kevin Kent, chairman of the America West Master Executive Council. Kent thinks that maybe the top brass at US Airways are moving a touch too quickly right now:

"We recognize US Airways senior management's enthusiasm for a merger with Delta; however, before it can be successful, management must first focus on fulfilling the promises made to their investors, customers and employees for the America West-US Airways merger."

Mergers…Generally, I hate them, and this one is no exception. Because we all know that as lots of airlines merge into bigger and bigger mega-carriers, there will be less competition, and that means there is only one direction that fares can go, and that is way, way up.

I have one word for what I think of this merger…JETBLUE.

Can Airbus
Survive?

The recent news out of France regarding Airbus struggling to make the decision to proceed with building the A350 Extra Wide Body (XWB) is just the latest blow to the troubled manufacturer.

As reports around the world describe how Airbus is fighting to retain enough cash to stay competitive, some “experts” have gone so far as to say they will not be able to pull out of this current nose dive. I can’t go that far, but more bad news for Airbus is bad news for commercial aviation as a whole.

With Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner said to be outselling the A350 4-to-1 in pre-production orders, it is now unclear if the European conglomerate will spend the USD$10 billion it needs to bring new designs for the A350 to market.

It’s being reported that Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois said that parent company EADS would make the crucial A350 project launch decision by the end of November. Gallois has been quoted as saying that the only way the plane will be a “go” is if the company can stop their financial train wreck with a planned restructuring plan known as Power8, which aims to save USD$2.56 billion by 2010. I’m not a math wizard, but that savings seems far from the USD$10 billion needed for a "go" on the A350.

One quite obvious (and really, really big) financial strain on Airbus is their recent glitches bringing the behemoth A380 into production. Several years worth of delays have led to penalty payments to airlines...and recently, Airbus suffered its first major A380 order cancellation when FedEx pulled their orders and moved their business for extremely large freighters to Boeing.

You know it’s bad when this happens:

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin flew to Airbus's Toulouse factory bearing EUR80 million euros (USD$102.5 million) in aid for suppliers who have been hit hard by delays to the A380 superjumbo.

But all is not lost – at least for now. While the high end of the Airbus line struggles to gain a foothold in their market, sales of single-aisle models continue to be strong. Low-cost carrier easyJet recently dropped major bucks on a large order of 52 A319s – an order that came at precisely the right time for the EADS CFO to smile…if only just a little.

So I must ask the question: What would happen to commercial aviation if Airbus were to go belly up? Your first thought is that the guys and gals in Boeing’s Everett and Chicago offices would be dancing in their cubicles, having become the “last maker standing” in this planet’s airliner reality show.

There are other makers out there who could possibly step into the void:

Both Bombardier and Embraer make damn fine regional aircraft, and might be positioned to re-tool and build larger airliners, but would they have the cash for such a major endeavor…and would they want to tussle with Boeing? Or would your next ride through the skies to Grandma’s house be in an airliner that has Tupolev, Ilyushin or Antonov painted on the tail?

Airbus’s Power8 restructuring will be watched by nearly everyone related to commercial aviation. I am rooting for them to cut their losses, build the A350 XWB and the A380, and remain a formidable competitor against Boeing. That's because I'm a believer in free market forces, and it is never, ever good to have one company be the only maker of something so important to our culture as large airliners.

Imagine what gas prices would be like if only one company distilled dead dinosaurs into the explosive juice we are allegedly so addicted to.

Oh wait…that’s damn near happening already. Never mind.

Pilots Wanted.

At the end of 2005, the FAA tallied 609,737 licensed pilots in this country, which means we are a very small and select group compared to most other groups of enthusiasts such as skiers, anglers, ATC riders, etc. Of that number, 311,828 held IFR ratings, 141,792 were ATP rated, but surprisingly only 134 pilots held Light Sport tickets.

This is in contrast to 618,633 pilots at the end of 2004, a drop of 8,896 pilots…in one year. But compare the 4Q/05 ending number to 4Q/02 when 631,762 pilots held certificates, and there are 22,025 less tickets out there today, in just three years.

This trend is NOT good.

AOPA says – and I agree – that this drop is due as much to older pilots losing their medicals as it is to diminishing student starts. Slice it any way you want, but the GA community needs to stop the bleeding now.

The next few years should see an uptick in student starts as Light Sport becomes more prevalent and accepted as a more affordable way into the air. When boomers see their colleagues jetting off in air taxi VLJs and other buddies are seen flying sleek composite GA planes off to golf two states away, word should spread through 2007 and 2008 that GA is a very cool way to travel. That should translate into more student starts and eventually more pilot certificates held.

If you want to keep on top of the OFFICIAL numbers on all this from FAA, visit this page and download any of the many Excel spreadsheets that break down the data a number of different ways. It is there that you’ll find out that in 2005, there were 8,150 people holding rigging certificates allowing them to wad up parachutes and cram them back inside a really expensive backpack so otherwise sane humans can dive out of perfectly good airplanes.

So this post again asks the question: Who are you going to talk to today about flying? Who are you going to tell about the thrill you get when you yank back on the yoke and the houses get smaller? Maybe it’s a guy at the gym, or the milkman (do they even HAVE Milkmen anymore?)…doesn’t matter. Just keep those lips moving…talk up flying all day and night, to anyone. Tell them about the flight school out at the little GA field on the edge of town, and how wonderful the friendship is among the pilots there.

Tell them to go take a discovery flight, and urge them to take the controls and… FLY. Because we all know that once they do that, when the exhilaration of flying gets in their blood, when the smell of Avgas on their hands smells better than Chanel No. 5, their ticket into this great select club is just a few hours of flight training away.

Do it today.

Cessna NGP
to go diesel?

A story reported on flightglobal.com this week from the AOPA Expo in balmy Palm Springs let loose with a few juicy details about Cessna’s exciting Next Generation Piston (NGP) project. I cannot find this info anywhere else, so for now take it with the proper grain of salt.

Two items of note in the story:

(1) The four-seat proof-of-concept aircraft that began flight testing earlier this year is said to be made almost entirely of composite materials. On that subject, Cessna President Jack Pelton said this:

"That doesn't necessarily mean we're committed to going to composites." Pelton explained that the test aircraft is not really a true prototype, but more of a testbed to develop a new family of light aircraft, and the design is changing all the time.

(2) On the subject of powerplant choice, Pelton indicated that the NGP will likely be the first Cessna aircraft produced with a diesel engine. Cessna is not saying what engine is on the proof-of-concept aircraft, but Pelton was quoted in this article as stating:

"We've flight tested the 1.7 litre Thielert [turbo-diesel] and now we're beginning to flight test the 2 litre. We are actively advocating to anybody who builds engines to please build a higher horsepower diesel or alternative fuel engine."

Alternative fuel? Now that is interesting. Flexfuel cars are beginning to show up, even though buying the actual fuel can still be impossible. But if the car guys can do it, why not us airplane guys too? I'll happily convert distilled corn instead of dead dinosaurs into altitude anytime if it'll help improve our Earth even a little bit.

One thing that is certain is that this will not be your grandfather’s Cessna. The engineers in Kansas are some of the finest in the trade, and we can only guess at this point what a final sale version of a NGP will be like. But a few sure bets are that it will have long range, be structurally solid, be very comfortable, and look great.

Just make sure the line guy is holding the right hose in his hand when he approaches your NGP after you say “fuel my high-wing Cessna.” If the dude somehow misses the giant fluorescent orange PLACARD stating the thing burns Jet-A, watermelon rinds or something that hasn't even been invented yet, you may not get far with the wrong juice in the tanks.

And you can be sure this will happen, Murphy’s Law is clear on that.

AOPA thrilled
with election results

Whether your political party was the one who swept into power this past Tuesday, or was the one swept out, AOPA’s Phil Boyer says the shake-up in our government was good for GA:

"This shift in power in Congress changes the picture for us on the user fee fight, but it doesn't mean we've won the battle. However, now we can be assured of a fair hearing from people who understand aviation and aren't beholden to the White House."

One huge thing that this pilot loves about the results is that my guy on Capitol Hill, Representative Peter DeFazio (D), Oregon, is one of two contenders to lead the powerful aviation subcommittee. His opponent will be Jerry Costello (D), Illinois. AOPA says they have a long relationship with these key individuals, and both have “demonstrated a willingness to listen and understand the ramifications” of user fees on GA.

Another very powerful Committee in WDC is the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The shift to Democratic control will most likely put Rep. Jim Oberstar (D), Minnesota in charge of that group of decision makers. Oberstar is a longtime friend to GA and has historically opposed privatizing air traffic control, and is highly skeptical of any changes to the current, proven FAA funding system.

Boyer and AOPA are aware of who makes up their base:

"This election was a referendum, with American voters making statements about corruption, terrorism, the economy, and the war in Iraq," said Boyer. "On these broader issues, some of our members are likely unhappy with the results. But on the specific issue of aviation funding and user fees, we're well positioned with the people newly in power who will, at the very least, listen to us."

AOPA gave its support to 143 candidates this election, and more than 90 percent of the AOPA-backed candidates were elected. When it comes time to talk about user fees, those winners will remember — and listen to the arguments from the GA community.

I see that as a major victory for GA. It is just now sinking in that we pilots may now actually have a chance to get a fair shake in Washington again, now that our government has stepped back from the abyss.

Cold beer here...
no wait, it’s over there…
or is it over here?

Each night (and some days during work…but that’s O.K. since I work for myself), I zoom through the RSS headlines from a number of aviation news sources, scouring the Internets for news you can use.

So you can imagine my glee when this showed up:

Heineken To Track Beer By Satellite

It seems that Dutch beer maker Heineken has put together a team that includes IBM and the University of Amsterdam, not to put a monkey on Mars, but to track beer by satellite:

Beer Living Lab is a pilot project that will track 20 beer containers shipped from the Netherlands to Heineken's UK distribution centre. Each container will be outfitted with GSM, GPRS and global positioning systems. The data will be transmitted to a computer center hosted by IBM; the WebSphere platform will be used to run the service software.

This is not just a bunch of guys in wooden shoes thinking up wild ideas after field testing the brewski. No, this is serious research. Heineken’s shipping division generates a reported five billion documents every year as its products pass through international shipping channels. Satellite tracking would help speed up deliveries and cut costs once Heinie convinces manufacturers, shippers, retailers and customs to move to a paperless environment.

This is really fine example of how aviation and aerospace research and development is more than just moving bodies through thin air at warp speeds. We pilots – and now beer drinkers of the world – can be thankful for the continued push to find better and more useful things to do with all those GPS birds bouncing around in space.

Some say GPS is the second most important aviation invention after the Wright Flyer, and to that I must agree. With avionics technology moving forward with the speed of a 1,000 Citations, the cockpit of tomorrow will merge the digital age with stick and rudder flying to create a world where steam gauges will one day only exist in museums. Pilots born today will learn in glass cockpits that rival those found in the front office of 2006-era airliners. As goes LORAN and ADF, so will go the trusted VOR, maybe sooner than later.

But one prediction that will never be wrong:

Regardless of the advancements in avionics and navigation, flight students must still learn to read a chart. They will still unfold them, and in 2020, when cars fly and even your toaster has GPS, those same flight students will still not be able to fold the damn charts back into the same shape as when they arrived.

Now about putting that monkey on Mars…

A shot between
the eyes for A380
Freighter program

The one thing Fedex knows something about is time. When every second of every day counts, the last thing you want to do if you want to sell FedEx very large freighters is to delay their order. And that is exactly what Airbus has done, causing FedEx to announce its decision Tuesday to cancel firm orders for 10 A380s, as well as 10 options.

With only two players in the flying freighter game, you could almost see this one coming months ago:

Instead, FedEx will order 15 Boeing 777 freighters and take options on 15 more. The firm Boeing orders would be worth about $3.48 billion at list prices. The first of the 777s will be delivered to FedEx in 2009.

FedEx is the world's largest express transport company, and flies a ton of Airbus products every night. They currently operate 56 Airbus A300-600s and 66 A310s, joining their 90 DC-10 and MD-10s and 58 MD-11s in that crazy aerial dance that happens every night as their fleet races each other inbound to MEM. Just how crazy is that dance? Take a look around 8 PM any weeknight at this web page I’ve created and look near the middle of the page where the inbound IFR traffic to MEM is shown…in real-time. You'll also see real-time inbounds to ORD, ATL, LAX, JFK, SFO and others, and will easily see how Fedex's traffic seriously pours into Tennessee each evening.

The decision to cancel their Airbus orders by Fedex might look like a fatal blow to the A380 freighter program, but industry experts believe UPS – which has orders for 10 A380 freighters – may move up into the vacated Fedex delivery positions, however:

If UPS cannot wait until possibly 2010 to take delivery, those same industry experts are reporting that UPS may also cancel their A380 positions and move those orders to Boeing's new 747-8, a bigger and more efficient version of the 747-400 that UPS has in its fleet.

If that happens, if Airbus loses the only two major freight haulers in the sky, expect Airbus to cancel the A380 program… maybe forever.

It is stories like this that makes me very glad I am not a top manager at Airbus. Their Board Room must be a very stressful place when the subject is vanishing orders for the A380. Should the passenger carriers also begin pulling their positions, the flying behemoth that has always – in my mind – been just too damn big anyway, may have the possibility of becoming obsolete before the first unit ever hits a ramp.

Reality Check.

The flight training business has gone through some pretty lean times since September 11th, when many schools closed up shop due to lack of students and a less than rosy national aviation hiring forecast.

But look around any sector of aviation right now, and it’s quite clear those days are gone, maybe forever. Talk to anyone in the flight training business and they all say the same thing:

“You read about big-name airlines going bankrupt and you think: bad time for pilots. But then you go to the airport, and it's jam-packed. Get on the plane, and every seat is full. The fact is-- this is a great time to become a pilot.”

That quote comes from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University website, on a page that lists a number of “hot” aviation career opportunities. Not only will the legacy carriers continue to need pilots, but the air taxi startups flying VLJs and LJs will need them too:

The FAA expects up to 5,500 of the new “very light” and “light jets” to be acquired by corporations, air taxi services, and individuals by 2017. With two aviators required per plane for commercial flights, as many as 11,000 more pilots might be needed in this brand-new segment of the industry.

I have always been a major-league fan of anything ERAU puts out there. It’s the dream school for many pilots, and trust me, if I had the chance to live my life over again, I’d hang my hat at their Prescott, AZ campus during classes.

Another great advocate that is touting the strengths of the aviation career market – both inside and outside the cockpit – is AOPA President Phil Boyer. Speaking recently at ERAU, he said:

"You're entering an exciting time in aviation – the general aviation and airline industries are looking up, and new technologies and categories of aircraft are entering the market. But you don't have to be a pilot to be involved in aviation. You could be the engineer developing technology to make aviation even safer. Or you could manage an airport, investigate accidents, or even protect a pilot's right to fly with AOPA. You have more options now than aviation students at any other time in history."

AOPA has a very nice resource for aviation careers found here.

Anyone in their 20s or 30s that enjoys the same white hot passion for flying machines as most readers of WoF, really doesn’t have a valid reason for not making that dream a reality. If flying a Cessna Citation Mustang around the country so the CEO can do a little business sounds like a really awesome way to drag in a few bucks, I’ve got splendid news…your left seat is waiting.

All that stands in the way are a few [really cool] classes at a nice campus in the scenic American Southwest.

Overbooking Madness.

I have just arrived from a whirlwind tour of California where I met with some great new clients and recharged with my son and his lovely new wife. Getting there was a non-event, but returning home last night from SFO was just unbelievable because Skywest 6412 was overbooked…again. While we were holding seat reservations, they would not give us seat assignments until we were staring the gate agent in the face. Turns out they had sold five more seats that a CRJ-700 actually has.

Sure, we could have taken them up on the offer of two free $600 coupons for flight anywhere in the lower 48 states, a free hotel room, shuttle to the hotel and free breakfast, but I really just wanted to get home.

In what other business can they sell stuff that is not really available? Thank God the airlines don’t run the hamburger joint down the street:

Customer: “I’d like the double bacon cheeseburger, please.”
Counter Geek: “Sure, that’ll be two bucks. But you cannot actually EAT the burger now.”
Customer: “Why not?”
Counter Geek: “Because we sold 20 burgers, but we only have 18 patties. So we will take your money now, and you can stand over there and wait to see if we actually can cook your burger.”
Customer: “But I have a receipt here that says I get to eat one burger.”
Counter Geek: “But we’ve overbooked the kitchen. Yes, your receipt shows you paid for one burger, but we always sell 20% more burgers that we actually have, figuring that a few people will not show up at the counter to actually claim their burger, despite paying for it and being really, really hungry.”
Customer: “That’s insane. So what happens if you cannot fry up my burger?”
Counter Geek: “Our burger overbooking policy is to give you a voucher for dinner at the fancy steakhouse across the street. We’ll drive you over there in our shuttle, and even buy you dessert afterwards.”
Customer: “That makes no business sense whatsoever. You can’t deliver a two dollar burger, so you buy me a twenty dollar steak?”
Counter Geek: “I know it seems nuts, but our chain is so big, we can do this over and over, and not everyone takes us up on the free steak offer. When they just get pissed and walk out, we keep their two bucks and have made a nice fat profit.”

Yes, we did get our seats, and lived to fly another day. But each time I hear that my flight is “overbooked” I just cringe thinking of how bad that makes the airline look. I just hope the burger chains never catch on to this profit machine.