My Crystal Ball

Recently, I've been doing a lot of career counseling for both ATC and Pilot minded young people. I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I do try and stay up on current technology and trends. As an aircraft owner, and user of the NAS (National Airspace System) I'm also interested in what my Government is doing for me, so I'm going to dust off my crystal ball and hopefully encourage some exchange of ideas.

As you may have read here; "Back in Action", I was recently at the FAA Tech Center, evaluating a componenet of NexGen. If you're not familiar, NexGen is somewhat of a generic term to describe the next generation of air traffic control, and is an umbrella covering numerous technological and procedural changes to the NAS. Our mission was to evaluate the use of "Datcom" in the terminal environment. Datacom, briefly, is a method to communicate and control aircraft without use of voice communication, or supplement voice communication, and is only one aspect of NexGen. Think automated Air Traffic Control, and I'll address that at a later time. (Disclaimer: I am a techie, and I love new toys) We recently installed a new Garmin 430 GPS/NAV/Com in our Cherokee, and I'm still amazed at the increased situational awareness, enhanced safety, and ease of IFR flight that it has provided. I am however still stinging from the price tag. Remember 360 channel radios, old ELTs, Loran, or for that matter VORs?

Here is my first prediction: NexGen, will be expensive. Bold prediction right?

One of my basic concerns is service to the user. Time was, air traffic was on a "first come first served" basis. This link is the Controller handbook, go ahead, look it up, the section you're looking for is 2-1-4, "Operational Priority". In order to justify the cost of equipment, the FAA will change their mode of operation to "Best equipped Best served". I didn't make up the term, check here, and here. What's the difference? My checkbook can't begin to keep up with the likes of Southwest or American airlines. If I can't afford the airborne equipment, I'll be limited to airspace and services for "non-conforming" aircraft.

By the way, do you want to know what our evaluation of Datacom found? We found limited application in the Terminal (Approach Control) environment, and in fact, the use of Datacom actually increased our workload in most conditions, and reduced the safety of the operation. While we were there, Datacom's budget, tripled.

My next prediction: Datacom is a done deal, 2018, mark your calendars.

Predictions to continue, next: "Where's the pilot?"

Spring Training 2010

Next to flying, one of my real passions is baseball. Fortunately, Cheryl shares this passion, and truth be told, she's probably a bigger fan than I am. When Cheryl suggested we treat each other to Spring Training for Christmas this year, I jumped on it. Although I have some issues with commercial air travel, American got us to Miami cheap. More on this later.

Let me say, if you like baseball, go to Spring Training. It's a totally different, and better experience. The players are accessible, every seat is like box seats at the major league parks, and the excitement is intoxicating. We went early to watch batting practice, and saw Mark McGwire watching over younger players like Colby Rasmus and Skip Schumaker. Our seats were six rows up from the bull pen, so we got to watch the pitchers warm up veteran and rookie alike. The wind was terrible, and we got some rain, but the game was great. A winner by the way 6-4 in the top of the ninth. It doesn't get much better. Subsequent games against the Nationals and the Mets were similar great experiences. We saw Legends such as Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst; hometown
heroes Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina; and of course the youngsters trying to make it to the biggs, such as Allen Craig, Bryan Anderson, Tyler Norrick and Franciso Samuel.


Past, Present, and Future, just like Aviation. If your older than 16, you've seen a lot of changes in aviation, both Commercial and General Aviation. Some good, some not so good. Take our trip to Miami. We got to the airport 3 hours early, just like they tell you to. We got through security relatively easy, and settled in to wait for our flight. And wait and wait. It turns out the flight in was 1 hour late, and since no one wants to carry their carry-on all the way to the back of the plane, they used all the overheads in the front, and all the people sitting in front had to put their carry-ons in the overheads in the back. This made loading the airplane take an additional eternity, and drives an ex-controller nuts. Adding insult to injury, we had a gate wait when arriving Miami. All total, almost 7 hours. We could almost get there that quick in the Cherokee. Such is the present state of Commercial Aviation.

In my next entry, I'll try and talk about the future of aviation, with a little inside information on the future of Air Traffic Control. Until then, Go Cards!!!!!

Back in action

Well, you may have been wondering where I was, and why I haven't been updating my blog. The truth of the matter is I've been real busy, and just couldn't get motivated. I witnessed first hand "Snowmaggedon" in New Jersey/Philadelphia area and will write about that in future articles. (It's all about the future of Air Traffic Control and general aviation) The big news, if you haven't already heard about it, we have severed ties with Remos Aircraft. I still believe the Remos to be a fine aircraft, but we have reached a point of irreconcilable difference. The current $150k + price tag is just too far removed from our vision of an affordable LSA. I won't go through all the reasons for our decision, but suffice it to say, we have other projects on the burner. I went flying yesterday, by myself, for the first time in months. I practiced steep turns, lazy eights, got in a few landings. Yes instructors need to stay current too. At one point, I was circling the river with a bald eagle. He didn't seem to mind, and it came to my mind what it is about flying I love so much. I experienced one of those clarity of thought moments, and decided it was time to update the blog. Sorry for the absence. Next week, we'll be heading down to Florida to take in some Cardinal pre-season games, so spring can't be far behind.

Jack