What’s worse than having your pride-and-joy destroyed in an accident? Obliterating it yourself… on purpose. Welcome to the world of 21st century liability concerns. The real losers: our children. Read more →
Author: Ron Rapp
What a Country!
Many people aspire to travel internationally. It looks glamorous. Feels that way too — sometimes. But from a pilot’s perspective, there are plenty of things about flying abroad that make me realize how good we have it here at home. Read more →
Daddy’s Copilot
The Rapp family recently got a little bigger! A few thoughts about daddy’s little copilot and how he’s charting a new flight plan for our lives… Read more →
Perspectives on GA Safety
The safety record for private, Part 91 flying is significantly worse than that of charter and airline operators. Call me crazy, but I’d argue that this is actually a good thing. Here’s why. Read more →
Special Mission Aircraft
I recently encountered a uniquely modified aircraft in Hawaii that got me thinking about how business jets serve millions of people who never get to ride in them and are probably not even aware of their existence. Even in the GA community, I’d imagine plenty of folks would be surprised how many of these customized airplanes are out there and what they do for us on a daily basis. Read more →
Hanging Separately on Medical Reform
Ben Franklin once said we should all hang together lest we all hang separately. He was talking about the Revolution, but the same can be said of aviation. Too bad the Air Line Pilots Association didn’t get the memo. Read more →
NOTAMs: A Broken System
Culling through NOTAMs is like having dental work done without Novocain: it’s unnecessarily painful. There are better ways to serve up important flight data, ones that save both time and money. So why aren’t we using them? Read more →
The Sim Credit Debate
The FAA wants to double the amount of sim time which can be credited toward an instrument rating, but a negative comment on their proposal temporarily derailed the effort. So who’s right? Read more →
A Better, Safer Airline Cockpit
Airspeeds, altitudes, attitudes, pressures, temperatures… airplanes have many limitations, and nobody would advocate exceeding any of them. So why don’t we give the humans who operate this equipment the same consideration? Read more →
The Spiral Dive Conundrum
Over 40 percent of GA fatal accidents occurred because pilots lost control of their airplanes, and a spiral dive is sometimes part of the final moments. How do we accurately train for such a hazardous situation? Read more →