Author Archives: David Megginson

The FAA vs. General Aviation

Posted on March 29, 2007 by David Megginson

[Update: Boing Boing bought into the airlines’ side on this and went even further, confusing airport development funds with ATC costs and somehow making it sound like 25% of the cost of each airline ticket subsidizes rich people in bizjets. … Continue reading →

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Wednesday afternoon, 1:36 pm, Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier Airport

Posted on March 16, 2007 by David Megginson

On the way home from Teterboro Airport after a March break family trip to New York City, after 2.6 flying hours mostly in IMC with light to moderate turbulence. My older daughter in the copilot seat whipped out her camera … Continue reading →

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Assault by battery

Posted on March 9, 2007 by David Megginson

Recently, in the cold weather, my Warrior’s battery has barely managed one try starting the plane — any more, and it goes flat. Most recently, it happened after I’d just been flying 1.7 hours and tried to restart after a … Continue reading →

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Canadian aviation publication make-over

Posted on March 8, 2007 by David Megginson

My 15 March (2007) editions of the Canada Flight Supplement (airport directory) and Canada Air Pilot (approach plates) just arrived in the mail, and they have a new look. Just before I started flying in 2002, the CFS had a … Continue reading →

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Brantford airport petition

Posted on February 20, 2007 by David Megginson

The city of Brantford, Ontario, about 50 nautical miles west-southwest of Toronto, is running a review to determine the consequences of closing Brantford Airport (CYFD), and Brant Aero would like you to sign an online petition of support for the … Continue reading →

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Airline cheers and jeers

Posted on February 13, 2007 by David Megginson

This time, my cheers and jeers are for the airports and airlines (yes, there are cheers), since I decided to leave the Warrior at home and fly to Newark, New Jersey this week. Jeer: Us the voters We have no … Continue reading →

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Cheers and jeers

Posted on January 30, 2007 by David Megginson

Over the past couple of months, I had two exceptionally good experiences with aviation-related businesses, and one exceptionally bad one. As a service to my fellow owners, I’m going to name them all here. Cheer: Great Lakes Aero This company … Continue reading →

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Threats to general aviation

Posted on January 26, 2007 by David Megginson

According to AOPA, the biggest issue facing general aviation in the U.S. is the risk of user fees. I agree with Phil Boyer that user fees could hurt GA, especially if they are per use (as in Australia) rather than … Continue reading →

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Winter Warrior wrangling

Posted on January 23, 2007 by David Megginson

My plane’s back on the line today. After doing some high-speed taxi checks to make sure nothing was leaking or running too hot or cold, I had to try to push the plane back into its spot through snow and … Continue reading →

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Up a tree

Posted on January 16, 2007 by David Megginson

[Update: see below.] According to Snopes, this photo is legit — it’s a Cherokee 180 N6487J that crashed into a tree during a forced approach near Meadowlake Airport in Colorado last month after the engine lost power (the pilot, who … Continue reading →

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