February 4, 2010 — EAA was saddened to learn of the passing of retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer, the only confirmed Ace (five aerial victories) of the Tuskegee Airmen, at the age of 90 on January 27 in New York City. As a member of America’s first black fighter group in World War II, Col. Archer flew 169 combat missions flying cover and escorting long-range bombers over more than 11 countries, as well as strafing missions against enemy landing zones and troops on the ground.
In terms of safety, planned improvements will increase the separation between aviation traffic using the runways and the high volume of motorized vehicle traffic using Airport Way. It will also increase the airports ability to contain emergency situations on airport property by clearing the obstructions and having safety buffer zones on each end of the pavement. This is critical because two aircraft within the past 15 months needed this safety buffer zone but instead went straight off the end of the runway, though the fence and across Airport Way.
February 4, 2010 —The While House has released its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011 and unlike previous proposal, there is no call for a system of user fees to be imposed on general aviation. Since virtually all of GA has rejected the notion of user fees to fund the FAA, this demonstrates the success of the GA community in finally convincing policy makers that user fees would severely affect general aviation’s viability.
February 1, 2010 — The FAA’s long-awaited revisions to the five year-old Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft Rule were published Monday, February 1, in the Federal Register. With the changes sport pilots will be allowed to fly higher and safer in mountainous regions, find it easier to gain towered airport experience in a powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft, and S-LSAs can be used at Part 141 flight schools which will likely reduce training costs for all student pilots. Additionally, a key change to the aircraft maintenance rules will allow E-LSA owners whose aircraft were originally certified as an S-LSA to perform their own maintenance.
