Six months out of the Navy I attended my first trip to Oshkosh in 1978. I went for the airplanes. Not one of them now stands out in memory. Not so with the people I met. Sitting in side-by-side booths in the old exhibit shed were Pappy Boyington of AVG Flying Tiger and VMF-214 “Black Sheep Squadron” fame and Ensign George Gay, VT-8’s only survivor during the Battle of Midway.

Both were selling books I’d already read,  Baa Baa Black Sheep  and Sole Survivor. That I could meet and talk with these aviators at Oshkosh, and listen to them recount their experiences in forum tent talks took me by surprise. Such unexpected encounters is what has drawn me to EAA AirVenture every year since. This year, my 31st, is no different.

Few of the people I’ve met over the decades are aviation celebrities like Boyington and Gay. Most of them are like me, ordinary people interested in airplanes. Many of them have become friends, and I’ve learned something from each of them. We connect each year at Oshkosh, and during the week I’ll introduce you to some of them here in JetWhine.com.

AirVenture forums is where I’ve made most of my new friends. Even for the shy, starting a conversation is easy because everyone there shares an interest in the topic presented. Over the past decade I’ve also had the opportunity to present some forums, another excellent way to turn strangers into friends, which is why I’m eagerly anticipating this year’s Aviation Blog forum, Monday, July 28 at 4 p.m. in the GAMA Pavilion (No. 2). I hope to see you there. — Scott Spangler

Anyone who follows the happenings of the FAA and air traffic control knows John Carr. He spent more than a couple of years at the helm of NATCA, the controller’s union, and was Pat Forrey’s predecessor. I had the pleasure of interviewing John just about a year ago today in fact here at Jetwhine.

Until last week, John wrote the blog The Main Bang.

His weblog was most often a peek inside the lunacy that is the FAA that, unfortunately, runs most of our lives to some degree or another. If a blog was supposed to be passionate to be good, then John’s was excellent. You could just tell that he wasn’t writing to make money or win friends - hardly, some might say - but rather to make readers feel what he felt. This he did, with thunderbolts of insight about what’s wrong with the air traffic control system today.

If you missed reading The Main Bang, you’ll need to be patient before you see it again, because last week John shut the blog down tighter than Fort Knox.

He decided it was time for a break, so John pushed away his keyboard and hung up his Gone Fishin sign. As the author of an occasionally passionate piece of social media myself, I can well understand how much this kind of thing takes out of editors and writers so John’s break is well deserved.

Will the Main Bang return again? While some hope it never again sees the light of day, I can only say I hope his name pops up again. But only John knows for sure. You may not have agreed with him at times, but boy John sure knew how to get people talking about air traffic control.

Until then, catch a big one buddy. And stop by the other aviation blogs occasionally and tell us what you and family are up to in the wilds of Florida. We’ll miss you and your barbed civil servant tongue.

Rob Mark, editor

And just when you think almost no one notices anything you write comes a great article like this one from FlightGlobal’s Runway Girl, Mary Kirby.

She interviewed me a few days ago when she realized she wouldn’t be able to make it to Oshkosh for the show.

As Mary said, Social Media is about starting conversations at all levels.

We’re planning on making a dent in this new landscape on July 28th so do join us. And for those of you hanging around on Friday at AirVenture, there’s also the Podapalooza at the AirBP Pavilion starting at 5:30 pm.

It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been nearly a year in the making, but it has. When I suggested a get together for aviation bloggers last fall I never thought I’d see much interest. But was I wrong. By Thanksgiving I’d had messages from nearly two dozen other bloggers that thought it was a great idea.

And now the first AirVenture Blogger Fest is just a week away.

If you’re in Oshkosh for the show, join us on Monday July 28 at 4 PM at the GAMA building. For those of you who Twitter, I’ll be there too on my “Jetwhine” ID unless I can figure out how to make my iPhone run with the “AirVenture” ID I also reserved.

While our Fest will be a meet and greet opportunity for anyone who blogs about aviation - or wants to - this will also be the chance for people who simply want to know more about how this industry and Web 2.0 fit together. We may even have a few cool aviation social media announcements you won’t want to miss.

So come early, stay late.

We’ll have lots of bottled water on ice to take away the burn of that hot Oshkosh summer heat.

You have to love this one. And this has nothing to do with FAA!

London’s Times Online and Plane Stupid are spreading the story about how the BAA apparently supported its case for a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport - the busiest airport in Europe - by using environmental data for an airplane the does not exist and is not even on the drawing boards.

The best quote of the article … “Nothing like this [super jumbo] is on the drawing board,” said one senior industry source. “I don’t think it’s feasible because the size of engines that would be required for this plane to safely take off don’t exist and aren’t under development.”

But these are the same folks that work with our own FAA. What a surprise.

Am I the last airman in America to totally ignore the free and invaluable gift that is FAAST, the FAA Safety Team at www.FAASafety.gov?

Sometime during the past two years I gave the FAA my email address. When and how doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I started receiving FAASTeam Notices about important stuff like new ADs, airspace changes, and the like. I also received notices of safety clinics in my area, which I routinely ignored until the recent tailwheel clinic south of me (see Pilots Flock to Stick & Rudder Safety Clinic).

I went to the FAAST website to get directions to the clinic, but I didn’t take the time to explore it beyond the information I wanted on the clinic. I was just too busy. Then the clinic moderator mentioned the new Wings program. Huh? New? What happened to the old one?

To find out I finally started clicking buttons on the FAAST home page (the new Wings program, now a true proficiency program, will be the subject of an upcoming post). The more I found the harder I kicked myself for not visiting sooner. Now, just one address replaces the dozens of FAA URLs because www.FAASafety.gov puts me no more than two clicks away from more than 95 percent of the information I need.

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My blogging pal Eric Joiner and his buddy Spike at the Freight Dawg have managed to snag a great video of Southwest Airlines’ president Colleen Barrett speaking on leadership to the Wharton Business School.

The interview is long - about 25 minutes - but the concepts Barrett hammers at - that customers and employees are the top priorities at an airline and not shareholders - are evergreen … to some.

It really is a shame that the legacy carriers are too embroiled in cutting costs - and employees - to notice that they’re still shooting themselves in the foot.

Every so often Jetwhine is lucky enough to unexpectedly receive an important work of prose from another professional mind. Today we have one from Frank Froman, a St. Louis psychologist, a man with a secret dream, but a man who also knows how to solve a problem when he’s confronted with it. It’s men like Frank that just might hold some of the solutions the airlines are seeking … maybe!

“It was quite an adventure, American Airlines Flight 2020A from St. Louis to New York,” Frank wrote us recently. “I think the cabin announcement went something like this…

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to flight 2020A flying today from St. Louis to New York’s airport, whichever one we can get into. We hope this is a comfortable trip for you.

And do we have a pilot on board? No? Ouch.

Anyone who has ever flown a 737 here maybe? Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re a pilot and and watch the AOPA video of the rocket-run the F-16 pilots ran on a couple of civil airplanes in March, you’ll probably lose your lunch. A Beech Premier and a PC-12 were transiting a Military Operations Area (MOA) that the ABQ Center controller obviously realized was active when the fighter decided to make the two civil pilots aware they were not wanted.

The aircraft came so close that the Traffic Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS) on the Premier generated first a Traffic Alert (TA) to warn of the impending conflict, quickly followed by a Resolution Alert (RA) demanding the pilot climb at a rate in excess of 3000 fpm to get out of the way. At cruise airspeed, that meant the Beech pilot probably squashed his passengers into their seats to avoid the fighter.

Pilots in both airplanes demanded FAA controllers offer up a way for them to complain about the shenanigans of the F-16 pilot when they realized the move were deliberate. My guess is the incident probably ruined the controller’s day too.

At lunch today with a bunch of other pilots I learned people don’t all understand MOA operations and what both pilots and controllers are expected to do. Question is, who’s correct?

Can you legally fly through an MOA on an IFR flight plan if the area is hot? Is it the controller’s responsibility to tell us the area is hot if we’re headed in that direction, or are is the pilot supposed to know and ask for avoidance? Whose airspace is the MOA, center’s or DoD’s? This all seems a bit gray to me and gray in Positive Control Airspace is not cool at all.

AOPA says FAA and the DoD are looking into the matter and that the F-16 pilot was whacked across the hands for the incident. What do you think?

Talking to friends, flight schools, and FBOs it is clear that I’m not the only one who isn’t flying as much as I used to. With avgas going for roughly $6 a gallon or more, depending where you live, direct operating costs are climbing faster than the airplanes they fuel. This begs an important question: will general aviation’s accident rate increase as flight time declines?

This subject arose during a recent lunch with Jason Blair, the new executive director of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI). A designated pilot examiner and designated sport pilot examiner, he is a NAFI Master Instructor, owner of Dodgen Aircraft, which offers training and aircraft maintenance, and manager of the Allegan, Michigan, airport. Pilots are still flying, he says, but a growing number are only flying enough to meet pilot-in-command and rental currency requirements.

Common sense suggests that flying four hours a year–an hour every 90 days to log the requisite landings–does not a current, safe pilot make. But is this sense common?

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Those of us who have either flown business airplanes or have been lucky enough to travel in the back - a few of us qualify for both - are light years ahead of the people we are still trying to convince about the value of personal air travel over the chaos of traveling on board the airlines, despite yesterday’s Jetwhine post on Virgin America.

As a corporate pilot, I can tell you that there is no greater Hell on Earth than making us travel on the airlines because we realize how much better air travel can be.

In the past few years, the thousands of business airplanes being delivered attest to the fact that travelers around the world are catching on to the benefits of air travel that keeps them as far away from an airline hub airport as possible.

Here’s a great little video clip the Cessna folks sent me that you absolutely must pass on to anyone who has ever wondered how or why a business airplane is a better way to travel. Enjoy.

And when you think new media like this YouTube clip, be sure and jot down the Jetwhine Blogger Fest at AirVenture, July 28, 4 PM at the GAMA bldg. We’ll be Twittering on the “airventure” ID as well. See you all there.

Clever and creative are not terms people use much when they speak about the airline industry, except for a few of the “Gen Xer airlines” as I call the Low Cost Carriers because they really seem to get it.

I was listening to an engaging interview with David Cush, Virgin America’s CEO, on Bloomberg Monday when he mentioned one tiny little fact that I found superbly fascinating in an entirely intriguing 9 minutes. It reminded me again why airlines like Virgin, Southwest and JetBlue are so successful. They’re all trying to reinvent the wheel … but in a good way. These airlines simply refuse to see the air travel business as it was and seem to work tirelessly to imagine the airline world the way it might be.

Cush was talking about how his airline has customized the cabin service experience for all the passengers aboard their Airbus A-320s through the use of a simple piece of touch-screen technology made easier because all of Virgin’s aircraft, like JetBlue’s, are equipped with TV screens in front of each passenger.

Rather than running those knee-crushing service carts back and forth down the aisle, Virgin allows passengers to purchase a snack or a drink on demand during the flight. When they’re ready, they select an item on the TV screen at their seat and in a matter of minutes, the precise drink or meal is brought to their seat. No more being at the wrong end of the cabin when service begins.

Best of all, Virgin cuts down on the chaos of, “How do I get to the bathroom when there’s a 50-lb. cart between me and lav?” Sorry … You have to be old to think like that I guess.

Nice job Virgin.

Close on the heels of this 4th of July comes the realization that the most heated presidential election we will probably see in our life times is really upon us. The relentless drum-beat from both nominees is that this nation is in serious need of some serious change.

While I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel with those who say the U.S. is busted, there is little doubt that the Congress has forgotten the meaning of the words leadership and compromise. No where does that seemingly worn out notion of leadership - or the lack of it - hit home more than at our own personal bunch of sky-bobbies, the FAA.

You’ve all heard me and many others beat these management folks up in the past year, whether it’s about the failure of the agency to negotiate some sort of settlement with the nation’s air traffic controllers, to the mess the inspectors uncovered with their bosses in Washington over how much self-policing the airlines should be allowed, to why a guy in a lawn chair over Idaho isn’t in jail for endangering the safety of the flying public after launching his balloon-powered seat over Oregon over this weekend. And don’t get me started on user fees and Next-Gen or the JPDO …

The overall responsibility for all this FAA silliness ends up precisely where it should, on the desk of Bobby Sturgell, the man who would be administrator pictured here with his political appointee pal Mary Peters.

But for once, let’s cut Bobby a little slack … not too much though, because while Bobby has proven he’s great at making speeches - thirteen in the past three months in fact - he is not up to the job of evoking change at the agency, much less leading it anywhere. When I went through FAA Management School in Lawton OK 20 years ago, management of everything was the job to be learned, not leadership. It seems that little has changed.

So why show Bobby Sturgell any mercy?

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It’s been awhile since I’ve attended an FAA safety seminar. With good intentions I read all e-mail invitations FAASafety.gov sends, but other weekend responsibilities too often take precedence. A tailwheel clinic, on the other hand, is more important than cutting the grass, especially when it’s held in a place where airplanes are born. 

Located on the Rochester, Wisconsin, airport, the American Champion Aircraft (ACA) factory wasn’t hard to find. In the main assembly hangar several dozen people, many wearing their best aviation T-shirts, milled around the tables where the Rochester Library Association sold coffee Grande and high-octane pastries for $1 each. Based on the safety clinics I’d attended in the past, the crowd seemed average. 

Nearby, a High Country Explorer guarded a sea of 200 empty chairs that faced a large screen standing before a yellow Scout on tall Tundra Tires. Rather optimistic attendance hopes, I thought, given that taildragger pilots are a minority among aviators.

Then an amplified voice echoed through the hangar. “Let’s get started,” said Jeff Taylor of the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics. Those with coffee and donuts got the best seats. Right behind them were the pilots who had been exploring the CNC mills and towering racks of aluminum and steel airplane parts. At 9 a.m., it was hard to find an empty chair.

What’s going on here?

Read the rest of this entry »

As a marketing-communications guy, JD Power and Associates recent labeling of Continental Airlines as one of the best in the nation for overall customer satisfaction, as well as the Best U.S. Airline award CAL also grabbed from the Official Airline Guide crowd was pretty darned impressive. It’s the kind of brand recognition marketing people live for. And Continental has surely slugged its way through enough  bankruptcies to feel good about reaching this point in the aviation industry.

And it is precisely because of Continental’s strong brand that I think that airline’s CEO Larry Kellner and the board of directors at the Houston-based airline must have lost their minds when they decided to hook up with a bottom-feeder airline like United, an airline JD Power ranks at the bottom of the heap too.

If you missed this piece of recent high-level airline strategy,  Continental plans to “cooperate extensively, [with United] linking their networks and services to create revenue opportunities, cost savings and other efficiencies.” Continental also withdrew from the Sky Team alliance ( KLM, Northwest, Delta, Aeroflot and a few more) to join the larger Star alliance with United and 19 other carriers (see reply below). A merger between the two carriers was ruled out a few months ago when Continental said, “No thanks,” to a United offer to marry up.

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Stand with me brothers and sisters of the air and remember June 11, 2008. On this day upstart Icon Aircraft left the cloistered alcove where the choir of aviators sings. It took the public pulpit, inhaled deeply, and sang in pure notes to the congregation of nonflyers–flying for fun is for you!

Yeah, I know. You’ve heard this hymn before. But never like this. In the cathedral of aviation this is different. So different that the glitzy LA debut of the A5, described as the “ultimate recreational vehicle,” caught the attention of publications like Forbes and Business Week.

And the Wall Street Journal summarized the difference succinctly in its article, “Start-Up Wants a New Audience to Take to the Air,”  calling Icon’s marketing plans “a novel concept: a small, sleek propeller plane aimed at the same mass market that includes motorbikes, personal watercraft, and powerboats…affluent thrill-seekers — a group that already spends billions of dollars each year on trekking, white-water rafting, hang gliding, parasailing and similar adventure sports.”

The Icon A5 is an amphibious light-sport aircraft made of carbon fiber. But that is not what makes it special. Nor is it the A5’s  folding wings and optional trailer, allowing owners to keep it at home like a boat. What makes it unique is that the sleek, sexy machine was designed for the consumer–not a pilot.

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I walked out in the alley on Saturday near my home just north of Chicago and was surprised to see a bunch of kids all staring up at the azure-blue sky to the north. “Hey guys. What’s going on?” I asked. One small boy said nothing and only pointed up to the sky. That’s when I was treated to an aerial display I hadn’t seen in at least 20 years … a skywriter.

When I was a kid - yes, long before the 20 years so no smart aleck remarks - skywriting was a part of the integrated mix of marketing messages a company used to blast its message to thousands of people in a moment. I towed banners from a 7KCAB Citabria many years ago, but skywriting looks like way more fun than I ever had dragging rags.

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As much as stay awake at night wondering how many people around the globe are clicking through the stories here at Jetwhine, I know we are only one small fish in the sea of people who think they know just about everything when it comes to air travel.

So as a public service - and because the curiosity is simply keeping me awake at night - I hope you’ll tell us here at Jetwhine what other aviation blogs you read and why. They might be about air travel, or ATC, or airline flying or learning to fly. Your choice.

Why Bother?

Seriously, blogging is all about sharing the conversation with others. If you check out our blogroll here on the right, you’ll find some of the blogs I read.

What about you? Let’s gather them up and I’ll post a final list before the blogger-fest at AirVenture next month.

Would you be interested in a ready-to-fly single seater, complete with engine for $12,000 to $15,000? How about a two-seater with a BRS ballistic chute for $25,000 to $30,000. Yeah, me too!

Dicks Starks is a long-time friend, and I always stop what I’m doing when his messages appear in my in box because they always bear interesting tidbits, and his goofy good nature always makes me smile.

If that name sounds familiar, maybe you’ve seen his articles in magazines like EAA Sport Pilot or Kitplanes. Or you’ve read his book, You Want to Build and Fly a What?, which chronicles his start in flying and how he and some friends built Volkswagen-powered Nieuports and formed the Kansas City Dawn Patrol.

Dick wrote recently to say his new book, Fokkers at Six O’clock, which picks up where the first book left off, was at the printer and that he hoped to make Author’s Corner at EAA AirVenture. And he sent some photos of his wife’s new plane, a Morane parasol designed by Robert Baslee of Airdrome Aeroplanes, the same guy who built four full-scale Nieuport 17s for the movie Fly Boys.

Then he recounted his trip to Valley Engineering/Culver Props in Rolla, Missouri. The father and son team of Gene and Larry Smith make engines, reduction drives, and props. Their Big Twin, a four-cycle 38-hp V-twin powers the Morane, and they also make fuel-sipping VW-based engines that Dick raves about.

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Bloggers think they know everything. Or at least that’s what we believe when we get started as bloggers. Once we really get up a good head of blogger steam though, we realize just how little of a good blog is about us and how much of it is about the people we meet along the journey.

A friend - Thierry Pouille - e-mailed me today from Dubai, his current stop on an around-the-world journey with a group of other pilots in a PC 12, a TBM 700, a Conquest, a Turbine Royal Duke and a Citation Mustang. I’ll be blogging more about this next week, but am I ever glad to hear someone I’ve gotten to know better through this media is involved with something so cool.

I never cease to be amazed at the places on the globe people tune in to Jetwhine from, 92 different countries to date according to the Google software we have installed.

But here’s one of the most amazing locations. Jetwhine picked up its first reader from Papua New Guinea last week … from Port Moresby to be precise. Near north of Australia, this is about as far away as an aviation buff can possibly be from Jetwhine’s home outside Chicago.

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