Norman Mineta

Time Magazine

A Cabinet-level position, we depend on the Secretary of Transportation to make sure that critical transportation matters get their fair share of national attention and priority. Unfortunately; where aviation is concerned, Mineta seems to have abdicated many of his responsibilities to the security goons that are destroying it day by day. We're not sure what's up... as the general game in DC is to grab power, not give it up... but then again, dealing with this nation's security and the need to make proper/rational decisions, may simply be too much of a hot potato to handle.

Never let facts get in the way of a good "story." Especially if you work at Time Magazine. These nitwits tried to make an issue out of GA's threat to our Nuclear powerplants… when there plainly wasn't much (if any) danger to be found in the event an aircraft hit such a facility.

As a matter of fact; studies have found that even if a fully laden airliner were to hit such a facility that little dangerous damage would result… certainly not the nuclear catastrophe such reactionary posturing might suggest.

The TSA Twins--John Magaw and James Loy

Dennis Fetters, a.k.a. Mohammed Al Faris

While pensioned Admiral James Loy shows some signs of being educable, the one-two punch delivered aviation by the security dictates of (first) former Secret Service and ATF heavyweight John Magaw followed by more of the same from James Loy bodes ill for aviation... and the treasured freedoms of all Americans.

As we always understood the system, our nation's security was to be protected in order to preserve a way of life… not trash it to the point where the very efforts of our security force destroyed what they were supposed to be protecting all along.

The enemies of democracy and freedom have a potent ally in the TSA and those who keep coming up with new and arguably ineffective ways to protect us from living and flying as free Americans.

Folks... we're not against proper security measures, but we want those security measures to make sense, do some honest good, and have respect for the fact that we are still FREE Americans living in what used to be one of the last true bastions of freedom in the world.

We are amazed to report that the man behind one of the most deadly aircraft in the history of sport aviation, the Revolution Helicopter Mini-500, has resurfaced… and is trying to tell everyone that every problem he ever had is someone else's fault. At various places on the internet (already strewn with hype and inaccuracy), Fetters has skewed stats to try and prove that the Mini-500's accident rate wasn't as bad as portrayed… claiming that of the 430+ birds produced (the "fleet," as he calls it), the 11 known fatalities represent an acceptable accident rate. Well... the truth of the matter is that of that 430+ machines, only a 100 or so actually flew for any length of time and an 11% fatality rate is a staggering figure to deal with (even at 5.5% if you give him the benefit of the doubt, and double the reports that were estimated of those known to have done any significant flying).

Worse; there are over 60 reports of other, non-fatal accidents (though some aircraft were rebuilt and crashed as many as three times)… some of which severely injured, even permanently disabling, their pilots.

Of course; there are other issues… the constant fraud perpetrated by the company, false claims, bad manufacturing, poor quality control, legal problems, bad customer service, outright incompetence in terms of using an engine that the Mfr said was NOT enough sufficient to safely do the job, many design problems, constant component failures… and we could go on and on (and Thank God, we're sick enough of the whole thing, not to). Most laughable, though, is Fetter's apparent defense that since the kits he sold were experimental, that he had no responsibility to offer a product without known defects in design or manufacture. The big question we have is this… why is Fetters surfacing now? Is he planning to re-enter the business? Are there other scams coming? We'll keep a sharp eye out, and will keep you informed as circumstances require...

State of Michigan

Huntington Beach, CA

Once again a group of political yahoos decides to render themselves powers denied them under law. The State of Michigan decided that they knew how to regulate flight school activity better than the FAA, and set about doing just that. Never mind that they were killing off an embattled industry. Never mind that they had no Federal mandate to control a vital Federally administered entity (flight instruction), never mind that they created fear and confusion where none needed to exist…

They simply went ahead and did whatever their bumbling brains convinced them would make them look like bigshots… and the aviation world got another shot in the back it didn't need.

Welcome to the land of the free and the home of the brave… at least if you live/work outside of Huntington Beach, California…

This is where free speech and the RIGHT to ply one's trade were restricted by an agency that had neither the power, the authority or the expertise to regulate aviation… though that didn't stop them from trying to do so anyway.

Their efforts have been defeated… but not without a fight and some damage done to a proud aviation industry that is disappearing under the weight of ponderous restriction and burdensome oversight.

Free speech comes in many forms and a banner towing plane is but one of them... an important one.