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Editorial: Take Command
By Ed Downs
Sometimes you get it right, and sometimes not. In the March issue of In Flight USA, this writer addressed the “sequester,” with threats to close FAA control towers and reduce other services related to flying safety. At that time sequester details were not known and I wrote, “Now, to be realistic, these threats will probably not actually come to pass as the calamitous results of fatal budget cuts. Even as this is being written, announcements have been made that the elected heroes of our sagging republic are going to hold last minute negotiations. This meeting will basically conclude that “the other guy” is at fault for current circumstances and nothing will be done, with current economic problems simply being put off to another day.”
Light Sport Flying With In Flight USA - May 2011
Is Your Tower Asleep at the Mike?
By Ed Downs
The answer to the question posed in the title of this month’s column might be, Sport Pilots don’t care. To be sure, recent weeks have set the media ablaze with stories of fear and trepidation, as brave, but apparently helpless, pilots are forced to land their airplanes without the critical and essential words from the FAA of “cleared to land.” Media experts (really?) would have the general passenger public believe that landing without a tower in operation to utter those empowering words, “cleared to land,” leaves all aboard in deadly peril. Okay, perhaps this writer is being a bit dramatic, but having a general belief that landings can not be made safely without a tower clearance does not do recreational flying any good from a PR standpoint, when citizens discover that their local community airport is “uncontrolled.”