Tag Archives: news

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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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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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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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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Gate shortage foils space invasion

Posted on January 2, 2007 by David Megginson

Some workers at Chicago/O’Hare Airport claim to have seen a UFO on the night of November 7, 2006 (CNN story): it hovered over the field and then climbed rapidly out of sight. The FAA talked a lot about low ceilings … Continue reading →

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Changes at Toronto City Centre Airport

Posted on December 11, 2006 by David Megginson

Update: I’ve just received a PDF of the new apron layout from the airport manager. A few weeks ago, I had a coffee with Flyin Dutchman, a local professional pilot here in Ottawa (Dutchman flies a Pilatus PC-12 all over … Continue reading →

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Canadian airspace disappears overnight! (casualties of the DAFIF)

Posted on November 1, 2006 by David Megginson

[Update 2006-11-20: it looks like they’ve pulled even the small amount of Canadian data that they can get from the FAA database — there’s nothing but US airports and navaids in there now.] Well, the DAFIF — the free database … Continue reading →

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Nice landing in downtown Montreal

Posted on September 11, 2006 by David Megginson

I have no idea how the flight got to this point, but according to this CBC article, once the pilot found himself low over downtown Montreal in a Cessna 172M without a working engine, he seems to have done a … Continue reading →

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"…not supposed to be used for commercial flights…"

Posted on August 27, 2006 by David Megginson

Today saw the worse air accident in the U.S. since 2001: Comair Flight 191 — a Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) — crashed in Lexington, Kentucky. According to an NTSB official quoted in a CBC news story, the jet took off … Continue reading →

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