The May-June 2012 California Pilots Association
===> Posted on May 16th, 2012 by Ben Sclair.
Posts Tagged ‘June’
Florida general aviation conference coming up
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012The Florida Aviation Trades Association’s Annual Conference & Trade Show, slated for June 11-13, will feature industry leaders, including AOPA’s Craig Fuller, NBAA’s Ed Bolen, Simon Caldecott of Piper Aircraft, Adam Miller of HangarChat.com, Jeff Kohlman, Aviation Management Consulting Group, and others that want to share pertinent information about general aviation.
===> Posted on May 16th, 2012 by Janice Wood.
FAA revises flight blocking rules
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012The FAA has published new procedures that would give aircraft owners broader control over their flight information’s disclosure, according to a report at
===> Posted on May 15th, 2012 by Janice Wood.
NTSB slates general aviation safety forum
Monday, May 7th, 2012WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a two-day forum here focused on safety issues related to general aviation June 19-20.
===> Posted on May 7th, 2012 by Janice Wood.
Solar Impulse Aims For 1,500-Mile Flight
Sunday, April 8th, 2012It has already set three world records and now the solar- and battery-powered aircraft Solar Impulse will attempt a two-day flight covering 1,500 miles flying out of Switzerland for Morocco. That flight is scheduled for May or June. The aircraft will stop in Spain so the crew can switch pilots and won’t use a single drop of fuel during the flight. Solar Impulse has already set endurance and altitude records during an earlier 26-plus-hour flight and another record earned in 2010 for manned flight powered only by sunlight. The Solar Impulse team is stepping up toward significantly higher goals.
ERAU Summer Programs for Teens
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz. – Teens who would enjoy hands-on exploration of aviation and aerospace topics will want to sign up for the Summer Programs operated by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at its Daytona Beach and Prescott campuses. The Summer Programs run from June 3 to Aug. 9, with individual camps ranging in length from five days to 49 days. All of the Residential Camps include on-campus meals, classroom instruction, books, materials and field trips. Supervised on-campus housing is also included in all Residential Camps except the Generations program. Application is required a month before the start date of each camp. For more information, visit
===> Posted on March 22nd, 2012 by Ben Sclair.
Kids free for Summer
Thursday, February 9th, 2012Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor has announced its “Kids Free for Summer” promotion. With every paid adult admission, one child ages 4 through 12 gets free admission to the museum June through August. Children under 4 are always free.
===> Posted on February 9th, 2012 by Janice Wood.
Bringing out the big guns — with a smile
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012In North Platte, Nebraska, they celebrate NEBRASKAland Days in June. Driggs, Idaho, pulls out all the stops for Summerfest in July. In Johnstown, Pennsylvania, they mark the joys of summer with Thunder in the Valley, and Salley, South Carolina, hosts the Chitlin Strut in November.
The point is this: Regardless of where you live, there is a festival, a carnival, a fair, or a public gathering of some sort that draws a crowd. That explosion of people represents an opportunity for those who know how to make the most of it. For those who don’t, it’s nothing but a traffic jam, a long line at the grocery store, or a headache that they wish they could avoid. Pity those people. They just don’t know a good thing when they see it.
===> Posted on January 31st, 2012 by Jamie Beckett.
Canada Hall of Fame inducts four
Monday, December 12th, 2011Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame (CAHF) will induct four Canadians, and recognize a Belt of Orion recipient, at its 2012 annual gala dinner and ceremony on Thursday, June 14, 2012.
===> Posted on December 12th, 2011 by Janice Wood.
A legacy is secured…and it only took 30 years
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
The brand-new air traffic control tower at Memphis International Airport has a name. It’s the Omlie Tower. Omlie, for Phoebe Fairgrove Omlie.
Omlie was the first woman to get an aviation mechanic license, as well as the first woman to earn a commercial certificate. She flew a Monocoupe Warner in the very first Women’s Transcontinental Air Race in 1929, competing against pilots like Pancho Barnes, Amelia Earhart, and Louise Thaden. She was one of the charter members of the International Organization of Women Pilots (the Ninety-Nines).
What’s great about this story is not that a building was named for Omlie (although that is a pretty neat thing). It’s the backstory–the story behind the story. According to the University of Memphis Department of History, the campaign to get some local recognition for Omlie began more than 30 years ago, when aviation enthusiast James Kacarides initially proposed in 1971 that the city name the downtown Memphis airport for her. (They didn’t.) * And later he suggested that the reveloped Millington airport be given her name. (It wasn’t.) Kacarides then proposed that the existing KMEM tower be named for her, but was told that it would take an act of Congress because the tower was federal property.
Kacarides went to Congress and somehow, somewhere, someone listened; President Ronald Reagan signed a bill permitting the change in June 1982. Guess what happened next? The air traffic controllers went on strike; President Reagan fired them; and in the turmoil that followed, “the FAA suddenly had other priorities,” as the University of Memphis puts it in what may be the understatement of the year.
At any rate, the plaque–if one had indeed been ordered–never arrived and the tower was never dedicated. But Kacarides didn’t forget. (See now why I love this story?) He and University of Memphis Professor Janann Sherman, who has written a biography of Omlie, helped to jumpstart the effort. A brand-new tower that went into service in June was officially dedicated on Oct. 20–and Kacarides and Sherman were there to see it. (Thanks and a tip of the flying helmet to Heather Taylor, producer of the documentary “Breaking Through the Clouds,” for alerting me to this article.)
*Edited to fix reference to General DeWitt Spain airport. Thanks to reader Maurice!
