AIN Blogs

AIN Blog: Goodbye SMO
May 1, 2013 - 3:35pm
Matt Thurber
Santa Monica airport

The general aviation industry in the U.S. lost a key battle last night when the Santa Monica city council voted to impose higher landing fees, not just on transient aircraft but on all aircraft that use the airport. Starting August 1, even a Cessna 172 based at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) flown by a local student or rental pilot will be assessed $10.96 for each landing.

AIN Blog: 11 Films for Your Flight
May 1, 2013 - 10:56am
Jeff Burger

Last month in this space, I suggested some reading matter for the road. Now it’s time to talk about films for your flight.
AIN Blog: Fly Like You Train
May 1, 2013 - 7:31am
Matt Thurber
ForeFlight Mobile

Flight operations specialist Francois Lassale brings up a good point in a recent issue of AINSafety, that “the unit’s simplicity means training on the iPad and its use in the cockpit is seldom given much thought.” Lassale is absolutely right, and his views should extend to the use of any device or product that pilots bring into cockpits to help with their flying tasks.

AIN Blog: Torqued: Can You Trust the FAA?
May 1, 2013 - 4:40am
John Goglia

Voluntary safety programs are based on trust. Can you trust the FAA? The short answer, when it comes to voluntarily reporting violations or voluntarily cooperating with an FAA investigation, is no. You absolutely cannot trust the FAA to look out for your interests, especially the interests of maintaining your certificate or livelihood.
AIN Blog: Why So Much Simulation?
April 9, 2013 - 12:31pm
Matt Thurber
Pilot Mall panel

Why all the growing interest in low-cost flight simulators?

Some announcements at this week’s Sun ‘n Fun show in Lakeland, Fla., for example, underscore wannabe and regular pilots’ fascination with these devices. Redbird Flight Simulations introduced its new low-cost Jay device, which, while it can’t be used to log time, promises to help pilots stay proficient. And Pilot Mall today unveiled the Advanced Panel, which is a modular instrument panel with flight and other controls that works with Microsoft Flight Simulator X (FSX) software.
AIN Blog: To Sleep or Not To Sleep, or Perchance To Score Some Political Points
April 9, 2013 - 7:01am
Paul Lowe

Remember the spate of sleeping controllers and the angst it all caused at 800 Independence Avenue and 1200 New Jersey Avenue?
AIN Blog: Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Disruptors of Aviation
April 2, 2013 - 6:20am
Matt Thurber
Garmin G3X

Maybe for general aviation to survive, we need more disruption. An article published in Wired magazine (Clayton Christensen Wants to Transform Capitalism, by Jeff Howe) discussed how successful companies often fail to recognize that new companies with “disruptive innovations” are about to take over their marketplace.
AIN Blog: Torqued: ‘One Level of Safety’ Remains a Myth
April 1, 2013 - 10:15am
John Goglia

I really thought we had heard the end of the FAA’s one-level-of-safety mantra after Colgan Air Flight 3407, masquerading as a Continental Airlines codeshare, crashed in a fiery ball in a residential area just outside Buffalo, N.Y., one snowy February night four years ago.
AIN Blog: Six Books Worth Packing
March 28, 2013 - 2:32pm
Jeff Burger

The second annual Book of Lists feature in Business Jet Traveler, sister publication to Aviation I
AIN Blog: China Market Draws Cabin Completion Business
March 26, 2013 - 10:37am
Kirby J. Harrison

Last year the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) in Shanghai was reborn on a wave of growing confidence in China as an emerging market for business aviation goods and services. It drew 156 companies to the 43,000-sq-foot exhibit floor.

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