Aviation Interest

Believed To Be the Longest Sentence Ever Imposed In A Laser-Strike Case

Sergio Patrick Rodriguez, 26, of Clovis, CA, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for aiming a laser pointer at Fresno police helicopter Air 1 (pictured), and attempting to interfere with its operation, according to United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner. Calling him a “walking crime spree,” United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill said the crime was serious with potentially deadly consequences.

For you history buffs – Here is a great collection of pictures of San Francisco Bay area Naval Air Station pictures as well as aircraft. Keep scrolling down as there are numerous pictures after the comments start too. http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=51260%20JJ

LOS ANGELES—The California Highway Patrol’s fleet of airplanes and helicopters may be getting old, but state lawmakers should not fund the purchase of replacements until the state police force justifies why it needs 26 new aircraft, according to the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office.

A new federal budget plan released by the White House on Tuesday includes a proposal to “establish a surcharge for air traffic services of $100 per flight.” NBAA President Ed Bolen said similar proposals in the last three budgets were stopped when the aviation community mobilized and asked elected officials to oppose the fees. “There is bipartisan opposition to user fees on Capitol Hill,” Bolen said. NBAA will continue working with leaders in Congress, he said, “to support FAA funding and aviation system modernization without user fees for general aviation, so that our nation’s aviation system can remain the world’s largest, safest and most efficient.” General aviation already pays for its use of the aviation system through the fuel tax, Bolen added.

A Las Vegas-area company intends to pick up where AOPA left off and reprise the “Summit” convention and aircraft display at the Palm Springs Convention Center Oct. 17-19. Lift Event Management of Henderson, just outside Las Vegas, is apparently patterning their 2014 Aviation Summit after the 2012 Summit in Palm Springs, including the Parade of Planes from the airport to the convention center. Last year, AOPA announced its 2013 Fort Worth show would be the last AOPA Summit and scheduled six regional events in its place. In a prospectus emailed to potential exhibitors, the company says it chose Palm Springs as “the ideal destination to display and showcase the latest in aviation products and services.”

What’s obvious and beneficial to one person may be a total mystery to another. Put another way, you have to have a frame of reference if you’re going to make use of the tools available to you. That’s true whether the tools you’re working with are tangible or intangible. They may be physical items or…

The Bakersfield Flying Club, a small association of central California pilots based at Meadows Field, has donated more than $6,000 to Honor Flight Kern County.

The money was raised through a club-sponsored raffle, and will be used to send World War II veterans to the memorial in Washington, D.C.

Title: Modesto Pilot Safety Meeting Topic: Single Pilot Resource Management and General Aviation Safety Date and Time: Saturday, February 15, 2014 , starting at 9:00 am PST Download Calendar File Speaker(s): Vince Nastro, Mike Trettin, and Pete Echeverria Brief Description: DPE Vince Nastro and CFI Mike Trettin will review the basics of Single Pilot Resource…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) will conduct a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 5, to examine the progress the FAA has made in implementing provisions of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 in the last two years. The Reform Act was enacted on Feb. 14, 2012, and contains provisions…

IVANPAH DRY LAKE — Workers at a state-of-the-art solar plant in the Mojave Desert have a name for birds that fly through the plant’s concentrated sun rays — “streamers,” for the smoke plume that comes from birds that ignite in midair.

Federal wildlife investigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, reporting an average of one “streamer” every two minutes, are urging California officials to halt the operator’s application to build a still-bigger version.

The deaths are “alarming. It’s hard to say whether that’s the location or the technology,” said Garry George, renewable-energy director for the California chapter of the Audubon Society. “There needs to be some caution.”