Aviation Interest

Based on recent history, the NTSB Friday sent two safety recommendations to the FAA requiring operators to inspect the mountings of all ELT transmitters installed on general aviation aircraft to ensure the units don’t break free in a crash. The recommendations (PDF) are the byproduct of the de Havilland turbine Otter crash in Alaska on Aug. 9, 2010, that killed five, including former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens.

Climbing Into Thin Air
How does an airport suddenly go from being 2,000 feet to more than a mile high? Barring a “Hollywood-style” seismic event at your airport, the answer is density altitude; in other words, how high an aircraft “thinks” it is. When density altitude is high as a result of temperatures above standard at a given altitude, the air is less dense than normal. As a result, your aircraft will perform as if at a higher altitude with degraded climb performance and acceleration, which are two important factors on a hot, humid day with a short runway and 50-foot pine trees looming at the end.

With hot weather comes an increase in wild fires and associated aerial fire fighting activity. Temporary Flight Restrictions are normally put in place around a fire to protect this aerial activity. To see a list of current TFRs and a map of their location go to http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html or go to www.faa.gov and click on the…

California pilot Clay Lacy will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, on July 17. “Clay was [in early] on corporate jet aviation and helped make Lear a household name and opened up that sector of the aviation industry,” said Ron Kaplan, enshrinement director at the Hall of Fame. Lacy…

The July/August 2010 issue of FAA Safety Briefing focuses on aviation weather and its critical effect on safe general aviation (GA) flying. Articles address obtaining and interpreting weather data, developing strategies for avoiding marginal or hazardous weather, and what services air traffic control can and cannot provide in adverse conditions. The link to the online…

VIP NOTAM – Los Angeles, CA. Notice Number: NOTC2398 July 08-09, 2010 Los Angeles 3 NMR SFC-2,999 AGL Specific instructions and restrictions are available at http://tfr.faa.gov. *Depicted TFR data may not be a complete listing. Pilots should not use the information on this website for flight planning purposes. For the latest information, call your local…

The California Energy Commission staff will conduct a workshop (6/30/10 1:15 PM) for the proposed Mariposa Energy Project (MEP) to discuss the clarification of the applicant’s data responses, work towards resolving outstanding issues and discuss project scheduling. All interested agencies and members of the public are invited to participate.

The American Air Campers Association is the result of a life-long dream of forming an organization dedicated exclusively to pilots and families with a passion for flying and camping.

Southern California contains some of the trickiest airspace in the United States, but the FAA is considering making it a little more complex. The agency is proposing to change Long Beach/Daugherty Field’s Class D airspace to Class C.

The threat to the future of seaplanes on Lake Tahoe is not fully gone yet. The TRPA Board meeting on June 23 will be the determining vote on the issue. Following that vote, assuming we prevail, we will, through the SPA Water Flying Directory, publicize the existing limitations as they apply to all boats (no wake zones, no more than 5 mph in Emerald Bay, no power boats in marked swimming zones) and encouraged continued best practices for both noise and invasive species threats to Lake Tahoe.