I was out hopping some of the local airports last Saturday night and had a very near miss with a very large bird. It appeared to be a large owl, or something similar. I was at about 50 to 100 feet on take-off, about 75 knots, and seriously out of runway. The whole situation just got me to...

O.K. so the "activating RW lights" thread got me thinking about the many times I'd be over (or near) an airport at night and just clicked them on for the heck of it. Well, sometimes it was to impress a passenger, sometimes (as a student or new pilot) just to figure out how it works, and a few times...

A Presidential TFR went up for Reno next Monday and Tuesday, which also happens to be the first two days of Burning Man. Please, if you know anyone thinking of flying up, make sure they're on the mailing list, and they know about this... While the potential for news headlines is amusing to say the...

Here is a link to a wonderful and fascinating story that might be of interest to the entire aviation community. This feature article appears in Thursday's edition of the Harrisburg (PA) newspaper. The Fly-in competition is this Saturday at...

Yesterday evening I realized with stunning clarity that summer was over. The kids go back to school Monday, the days are definitely getting shorter, and our window of opportunity for after-work dinner flights is closing rapidly. So, when we at last escaped the hotel Friday night, extremities...

Okay, so this MI5 character has spammed almost every newsgroup in existence. It appears to be computer-generated gibberish, broadcast across a wide spectrum of 'groups. Does anyone know what compells someone to do that? Is there a point? Assuming, for a moment, that the sender believes there...

This past weekend was the 4th annual "Wings Over Republic" fly-in in Washington State. I've driven to the last 3. For an event that is only 4 years old, they really know how to throw one. Last year they had 127 planes, this year appeared to be better. Some of the things that make it so...

NAS Has Reached The End Of Its Useful Life? Right. And there are WMD in Iraq. :-( FAA HYPING NEXTGEN (http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/940-full.html#195994) The PR campaign to gain support for the FAA's airspace modernization program, known as NextGen, took to the air on Friday...

Is an order of magnitude improvement in GPS positioning needed? http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q3/070827a_nr.html Boeing Bids on Next Generation Global Positioning Satellite System ST. LOUIS, Aug. 27, 2007 -- The Boeing Company today submitted its proposal to the U.S. Air Force for...

I saw some long NEXRAD update delays on the G1000 Saturday on a trip from Mobile to Houston. http://www.cessna.org/forums/attachments/526029-OldNEXRAD.JPG Anybody else seen delays this long? -- Dan T-182T at BFM

A discussion recently came up and I figured that perhaps someone around here might have an answer. Approximately how much does it cost the oil companies to ferry a single helicopter load of crew out to an oil rig that is 100 miles from shore?

Is the FAA aware of a new anti-smoking drug called Chantix? More to the point, do hey have an official position on it? For most of my career, we always used Nicoderm patches on those inpatients who smoked... with very uneven results. I have, within the last few months, become aware of Chantix...

GARMIN G1000 PROBLEM AFFECTS GA DELIVERIES (http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/934-full.html#195931) A problem with a component of the Garmin G1000 glass panel, a popular choice for avionics in many general aviation aircraft, has stalled production and delayed deliveries at factories...

This is something I've never learned how to do. Apparently the procedure is to look up the CTAF and then click the ptt button? Is there a standard procedure for how many times?

Have you ever wanted to tour the International Space Station? http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/index.html

Just figured I'd post here as I lurked and posted in the rec.aviation.student groups a lot during training. Mostly looking to vent some as I have no pilot-friends aside from my former instructor. Over the last few months I've unexpectedly lost consciousness 3 times on two occasions (second time I...

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070822/gas_station_lawsuit.html?.v=4 What do you want to bet that the same thing is happening with 100LL? So much for U.S. anti-trust laws.

Aerial Photography in Masachusetts http://www.wingoverphoto.com

Anyone care to chime in on this one? An applicant going for the CFII before the CFI. Am in process of doing it right now with a student. Odd as it may seem....... Oh Yeh, its for helicopter......

Looks like another save for BRS and Cirrus. Apparently a Cirrus was attempting to land ACK VFR last night when they ran into weather (fog and low visibility after sunset on the island are common in the summer). They pulled the Ballistic Recovery System parachute about 5 miles northeast of...