“When it comes to learning advanced integrated avionics, the airplane is perhaps the worst place to learn. But the right simulator is the better option for obvious reasons, and not all are created equal.”
What’s the scoop behind the claim? Calvin Fraites of Flight1 Aviation Technologies joined The Smart Aviator’s Larry Anglisano on AvBrief. com to explain just what this means and how both flight schools and private owners can incorporate robust simulation into their regular practice as well as pursuit of certificates—especially the instrument rating—in Cirrus SR Series and Piper PA28 aircraft equipped with the Garmin Perspective and G1000 NXi.
Flight1 Tech’s Calvin Fraites joined Larry Anglisano of AvBrief.com on The Smart Aviator podcast on November 5, 2025. To visit the podcast, go to the AvBrief website.
We’ve been working with Flight1 Tech to promote its AATDs because I’ve seen how well they work within the flight training organizations with which I’ve collaborated over the years. I’ve known founder and president Jim Rhoads since my days at AOPA, when his company built the Cessna Cardinal model for Microsoft Flight Sim that accompanied the AOPA Sweepstakes Catch-a-Cardinal.
Since then, Flight1 Tech’s FAA-approved AATDs have evolved to emulate faithfully the Cirrus SR series, complete with Garmin’s Perspective+ and CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System) deployment, and the nuances of the PA-28 based on Jim’s longtime ownership and piloting of his own Piper Cherokee. Now, the modern version replicates an Archer with Garmin’s G1000 NXi avionics suite.
For training that sticks, you need an honest rendering of the instrument panel and associated hardware, and Flight1 Tech does it in a way that keeps it low cost and approachable for a wide range of flight schools as well as private owners.
Trying to re-vision a massive event like NBAA’s BACE—the association’s largest annual gathering—takes time as well as overcoming a lot of inertia, both institutional and across the industry.
With a long-term agreement signed with the Las Vegas Convention Center, NBAA is constricted in its ability to revamp the conference, but it made valiant efforts to do so this year, and try to bring value to the members of the association and the companies and customers they serve.
The Gulfstream team brought the G400, G800, and the cabin mockup of the G300 to the show at NBAA-BACE. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
I found the most value in the meetings, the networking, and the chance conversations that only bringing together a lot of disparate folks in person can do. And that’s really why bizav exists, really, that gathering people together, face to face.
At one point on the exhibit hall floor, I was in a gathering of random friends I knew from no less than 3 prior corporate engagements. No one can plan that kind of synergy.
The sleek black Epic E1000 GX poises on the ramp at NBAA-BACE. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The Citation Ascend on the display at Textron Aviation, greeting the morning sun. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Bombardier brought several of its Global and Challenger fleet to the static display at NBAA-BACE 2025. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
By necessity, the exhibit hall floor was smaller, less full, as well as the static display, with fewer aircraft overall (and a wind/duststorm on Tuesday that drove people away from KHND). But there were some big players there (Gulfstream, Bombardier) as well as new entrants (Epic in a sleek, super-black E1000 GX). In fact, black was a bit of a theme, with Daher’s Kodiak 100 showing up in stealth colors as well.
The flight deck of the Citation Ascend shows the layout of the significant upgrade to the XLS line. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The center power console on the Citation Ascend features two touchscreen controllers as well as the power levers. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The new Citation Ascend from Textron Aviation made the scene too, and its upgrade from the XLS (though it shares the same type rating, as I was assured) looks pretty spiffy. I can’t wait to fly it. Someday. Maybe I’ll get a chance to do some other Citation flying when the next Special Olympics Airlift comes around—in June 2026, into Minneapolis-St. Paul. It will be my fifth SOA if I can make it happen.
Can you even see the Daher Kodiak multimission aircraft? It is so black. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The stealthy black Cirrus Vision Jet graces the ramp at the NBAA-BACE static display. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
In talking with colleagues from around the bizav space following the show, there was good energy—the dynamic duo of Dierks Bentley and Steuart Walton at the keynote was a high point. I wonder how many downloads/streams of “Drunk on a Plane” or “Riser” happened from that GPS location on the Strip immediately following the keynote… I admit I claim both of them.
All in all, this was still a show not to miss. I found a lot of value in networking and will come away with new business and strengthened relationships across the board.
But the slimmed-down versions of most exhibitors seemed to serve them well too. Your thoughts?
A pair of Falcons perches on the ramp at the NBAA-BACE static display. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The unofficial kickoff for theannual BACE in Vegas included reflections from all corners of the business aviation industry in a quest to make sense of a challenging, changeable time.
For those of us coming in from the East Coast, or Europe, the sun doesn’t rise quickly enough in Las Vegas. As usual, I woke up, sans alarm, at 4:57 am, ready to roll. Fueled by Tacos El Gordo from the night before, the action began at 7:30 am and did not conclude until I walked “home” from the Honeywell media event at the Las Vegas Country Club (very old school Vegas in a mid-century modern clubhouse) at 8:30 pm. Whew.
Éric Martel, president of Bombardier, announced the goal of a Mach 0.95 certification MMO for the Global 8000. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Big—and Fast—Jets
We covered Gulfstream’s G300 launch in late September in Savannah. The greater story lies in the rationalization of their product line that has occurred under the leadership of Mark Burns and team. I’m hoping to talk later at BACE with chief of engineering flight test, pilot Scott Evans, out at the static display where the G400 test article, G800 production model, and G300 cabin mockup grace the ramp.
Bombardier in a celebration fested by Cirque du Soleil gymnastiques announced its Global 8000 will aim for certification at a new top MMO of Mach 0.95. The nuances behind the number have been significant, and clearly already addressed in flight test to date, but the traverse to M1.2 during those tests opens up a slew of questions.
Rollie Vincent, CEO of JetNet IQ, remarked upon the effect that the spectre of tariffs have had on the business jet market. {Credit: Julie Boatman]WingX’s Christoph Kohler noted the headwinds and tailwinds found in the market ahead for business aircraft. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The Market
At the Newsmaker’s Luncheon—during which The Air Current’s Elan Head deservedly secured NBAA’s Gold Wing Award for business aviation reporting—the mood in the room smacked of cautious optimism (that has been a theme for a while), with the collective sentiment captured in two keynote speeches referencing the current political situation in the U.S. as well as the leadership panel convened following lunch.
Those two keynotes formed an interesting parallel. Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, gave an impassioned plea for Congress to work towards the same kind of bipartisan solution to resolve the shutdown as the one that had led to the FAA reauthorization bill of last year, and which was discussed by Rep. Sam Graves in his remarks just prior to Daniels’. We can all hope, but hope is not a strategy.
Elan Head, of The Air Current, accepts the NBAA Gold Wing Award at the Newsmakers’ Luncheon. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The leadership panel at the Newsmakers’ Luncheon on Monday at NBAA BACE 2025 featured CEOs from aircraft OEMs and fractional operators. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The uncertainty generated by global economic and geo-political forces underpins each of the market reports presented to the media on Monday, both by Rollie Vincent (JetNet IQ) and Christoph Kohler (WingX/JetNet) and by the Honeywell team, led by strategic planning manager Kevin Schwab. While the demand for business jets continues to rise—with 8,500 (Honeywell) or 9,700 (JetNet) new jets predicted to deliver over the next decade, forces from tariffs, to regulatory/shutdown headwinds, to black swan events on the geo-political scene are keeping everyone on pins and needles about the tenacity of that demand.
Leveling things out a bit, Michael Amalfitano, president and CEO of Embraer Executive Jets (and wearer of the purple socks, always spot on in style) noted the significant impact that large fleet sales have on their business. “What you have in terms of stability of strategic partners like FlexJet…is a great testimony to being able to find efficiencies in your production line, look for solutions that are going to bring more volume to that sector, and recognize that they’re a sales group in the sky.” However, Ron Draper, CEO of Textron Aviation, offered a balancing note–and one grounded in the company’s experience during the recession of 2008: “Fleet customers can change as the economy goes up and down. And so we like a mix of retail and fleet orders, and that’s what our backlog represents today.”
Kevin Schwab, Honeywell, presents the company’s market forecast at an event at the Las Vegas Country Club on Monday evening.Nicolas Chabbert of Daher highlighted the multimission capabilities of the Kodiak turboprops with a video showing a surveillance action in Las Vegas. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Brazil, Multimission in Focus
In several press conferences, the growth recently seen in Latin America has led to a greater focus on that market by OEMs seeking to capitalize on economic opportunity there, particularly in Brazil, where light jets and turboprops find great application in connecting remote areas of the country to its population centers. As an example, Daher opened its Brazilian office this summer and has now appointed its leadership team on site: Paulo Cesar Olenscki assumes the role of Executive Director for the operation in São Paulo, along with Rodrigo Cendon as the Customer Relations Director.
Also noted by Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert, the Tagine R&D project continues to roll along under funding by the French government. “This program is underway and is delivering papers and a cabinet full of ideas on the innovation side,” said Chabbert. “We took the Kodiak as a good bench to provide the mix between what could be advertised and what solutions can you do when it comes to the trade offs with the battery, and electricity. So this is the purpose of Tagine; it doesn’t necessarily end up with a product.”
In fact, the mountain of papers and data resulting from the joint exercise will be published publicly, according to Chabbert, so the company will determine following that report out if it will put into application the learnings gleaned from it. The problem presented by slow progress on improving energy density in the batteries currently available remains—capacity is roughly 50 percent of what it should be, he noted. And with collaboration on the FAA side that has come to a standstill during the current government shutdown, Chabbert would only remark that Daher’s progress on certification programs in process have paused.
Partnerships
Hartzell Propeller and The Blackhawk Group also announced their partnership ahead of BACE this fall. The plan is to leverage the service and support capabilities of both entities and expand their footprint in North America and Europe. Hartzell will supply its Top Props to Blackhawk for use on its upgrades and aircraft overhaul programs, and provide maintenance and overhaul facilities via its eight service centers.
We look forward to more time in the exhibit hall and at the static display on the official Day One of NBAA on Tuesday…more aircraft pics to come, along with fun times celebrating aviation with friends and colleagues.
For most folks, Taylor Swift is either a pop star of marginal interest, or a cultural icon, or simply a musician and songwriter to appreciate. The fact she flies often on a Dassault Falcon either means little, or perhaps paints her with an elitist brush.
To aviators, the Easter egg in her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” is that the recording couldn’t exist without her ability to leverage private aviation.
In a clip posted early on the morning of October 3 with the album’s release, Swift recalled saying to her producers, in the midst of the European portion of The Eras Tour: “Do you guys want to do this? I’ll come to you; I’ll make this easy.”
The Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellrock were just a quick leg at FL3X0 away… the pair had collaborated with Swift on three of her previous albums, the glittering and jeweled halls of Red (2012), 1989 (2014), and Reputation (2017).
“It fueled me for the European leg of the tour… getting done with a show, hopping on a plane, and going and writing new songs,” said Swift in the clip.
As an entrepreneur, Swift is an excellent case study, because though her business application (global superstar musician) may not be available to most of us, the lessons she has learned and demonstrated can teach us a lot, especially those of us who work in creative fields.
One that strikes me—a goal that she has successfully obtained earlier this year—is to own your work. I will give you one good reason to listen to her appearance on the New Heights podcast (hosted by her soon to be brother-in-law Jason Kelce and future hubs Travis Kelce) in which she revealed #TS12, her twelfth album—she discusses in detail (starting at 25:15 so you can go right to it) her acquisition of her masters from her first six albums, which she purchased in May. Somewhere before the “folklore” and “evermore” albums of the Covid era, I posit that she fully grasped the raw deal she’d been handed via the recording contract she signed at a tender age.
I didn’t realize (naively) how little most musical artists “own” of their creative product. But I suppose it’s like my having been employed by various aviation publications throughout my life. Little of what you’ve read of my work has actually been produced under my sole ownership.
(Except this is. And it feels awesome. Every time.)
Swift vowed to make it right, and invest in herself and her brand, so buy those masters back she did, from Shamrock Capital, to the tune of $360 million. All of those Eras Tour tickets funded the investment. Now she owns not only the master recordings, but the associated album art with them, among other assets. Bravo!
As for her carbon footprint in the sky, like many responsible corporate and private aviation operators, Swift reports that she purchases “double” what her impact would be, through offsets.
True to form, Gulfstream’s team had an ace up their sleeve ready to lay on the table at their Discover the Difference customer event strategically positioned on September 30, two weeks before NBAA-BACE 2025.
During the opening remarks kicking off the event, Gulfstream Aerospace President Mark Burns unveiled the latest model in the Savannah-based OEM’s new line of business jets: the G300. A super midsize jet set to compete in a segment with a very deep bench, the G300 will replace the popular G280, which just celebrated its 300th delivery back in June.
Gulfstream Aerospace President Mark Burns answered questions following the announcement of the G300. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The G300 mockup shows off the two living areas inside, and how they might be configured. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
I was happy I’d made the trip down to Georgia once again, if only for a quick peek at the silvery new mockup and a whirlwind tour of the new Service Center East—with 367,000 square feet accommodating up to 26 aircraft—and an eagle-eye view of the G500/G600 production lines.
The visit gave me the chance to reflect on my previous two, in which I’d been introduced to the G700, G800, and G400, and witnessed the first of the G500s and G600s on that same line.
Gulfstream has achieved under Burns’ watch over the past decade a rationalization of its high-end product, the luxury form of transportation that has entered the cultural lexicon. What started with the turboprop Gulfstream I back in 1958 hit its stride with the Gulfstream GIV and V in 1987 and 1998, respectively. The G650 has logged more than 1 million flight hours with roughly 560 in service.
But Gulfstream has its replacements ready in its long-range, large cabin models. The show must go on. And that’s a good thing, from a pilot’s perspective. Not just because we love to fly something new, always.
The Gulfstream G300 mockup unveiled on September 30 showed off the new Harmony flight deck. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Gulfstream revealed the G300 mockup two weeks before it would go on display at NBAA BACE in Las Vegas. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
On the Gulfstream Flight Deck
The G700 possesses the first flight deck of a large-cabin jet that made me feel—as soon as I comforted myself into the left seat—as if I could turn it on and taxi it away with little prompting.
I’ve yet to actually prove this theory, but hear me out.
Synchronicity—maybe they should have named it that rather than Symmetry, or the slimmed version on the newly announced G300, Harmony—of the flight deck underpins this feeling, and Gulfstream has taken it across the model line to demonstrate the point. From the long-legged G800 through to the soon-to-deliver G400, the Symmetry flight deck makes its trade in presenting clearly to the pilot what needs to happen next, in its context-driven Phase-of-Flight architecture.
Gulfstream continues the pilot-centric view with the digital flight control system, twin “active control” sidesticks that work together to translate the pilot flying’s desires into action—without producing unwanted confusion between the two sticks, and therefore, improving their communication to the pilot not flying should they take the controls.
Fold in the Predictive Landing Performance System, EVS and SVS, and heads-up displays, there’s a lot going on underneath the surface.
We’ll get a chance to delve more deeply into what Gulfstream has for pilots in an upcoming feature. Til then… I’m biding my time.
When I began the technical writing phase of my career, in 1997, I joined Jeppesen’s Aviation Courseware Development department. Led at the time by editor Pat Willits, ACD had the responsibility of producing Jepp’s distance-learning flight instructor refresher clinic (FIRC), delivered on VHS cassettes for $199 (plus tax and shipping).
The FIRC allowed instructors for the first time to complete their every-two-years certificate renewal without having to attend an in-person or “live” FIRC, which were held over the course of two days (16 training and testing hours total), in hotel conference rooms across the U.S.
After securing my initial CFI certificate in 1993, I renewed first by getting my CFI-Instrument in 1994, placing my renewal on its current even-years rhythm. For my first renewals, I attended AOPA’s live FIRCs, where I enjoyed meeting fellow instructors and sharing stories and best practices as well as a laugh or two about the commiserate moments of working with student pilots.
After a year or so at Jepp, I was promoted to Assistant Editor, and tasked with acting as its Airman Certification Representative (ACR), responsible for the physical review and signing of every FAA 8710 form that came in with the FIRC completion before the CFI’s new certificate could legally be issued. Every week I’d go upstairs to the customer service area and sign roughly 50 to 100 of the forms.
My first brush with aviation fame came when I signed Patty Wagstaff’s 8710.
Jepp went on to develop and produce in concert with AOPA the second online FIRC to gain approval from the FAA, and I was part of the team that put it together. With online FIRCs now composing the grand majority of CFI renewals, the live FIRC has all but vanished. Most instructors just “get it done” every two years, take in the minor and major updates to the regs and processes, and honestly probably retain little else from the exercise. The FAA requires the 16-hour training curriculum, and while providers strive to keep us entertained whilst sitting in front of the laptop or clutching an iPad for that period, it’s probably not something most of us would choose to participate in, given the choice.
We still find more meaning in connecting face to face.
The Douglas C-47 Ruptured Duck has no engines in its nacelles as it stands outside the MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. [Credit: Julie Boatman]A panel on mental health for pilots at NAFI Summit was moderated by Dr. Victor Vogel, and included Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrop, former NTSB member Greg Feith, and Dr. Tony Reed, with Samantha Bowyer behind the podium. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
For Monday and Tuesday of this week, I attended the Summit hosted by the National Association of Flight Instructors. NAFI’s two-day conference this year, at the MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport (KCAK) in Ohio, featured about… 16 hours of presentations on a buffet of topics eerily similar to those covered within a standard FIRC TCO (training course outline).
The Summit kicked off with presentations from FAA AFS-810 manager Everette Rochon on the Part 141 Modernization rulemaking group progress, and two panels, one gathering experience designated pilot examiners (DPEs) Karen Kalishek, Katie Sample, and Jason Blair, and the mental health one moderated by Dr. Victor Vogel, with Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrop, Greg Feith, and Dr. Tony Reed.
Head of FAA AFS-810 Everette Rochon presented at the NAFI Summit on the progress on Part 141 Modernization. [Credit: Julie Boatman]ERAU professor Samantha Bowyer outlined the changes brought into reality by the passing of MOSAIC for pilots and aircraft certification. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Martha and John King (whose Kings Schools online FIRC I’ve taken many times) led a talk on risk management, with easy mnemonics to use on the flight deck to enable solid aeronautical decision making. Samantha Bowyer, professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, outlined the changes brought forth by the passing of the MOSAIC ruling for pilot and aircraft certification, with a lively Q&A trying to find clarity on the topic. And Dr. Reed walked instructors through the ways they can make lifestyle changes to support their own physical health.
Day Two featured more breakout sessions, with great choices to select from, including how to ensure the first hours of training connect with the prospective student, as well as the use of AI in training, implementation of sims within a course syllabus, and a deep dive on spins, slips, and skids. Mental health was addressed in more detail by Dr. Rob Zeglin, and Judge Couch zoomed in remotely to illuminate the process behind the NTSB’s Office of Administrative Law and how to mitigate and protect against certificate actions as an instructor.
Martha and John King presented at the NAFI Summit on their experience and how it relates to teaching sound aeronautical decision making and risk management. [Credit: Julie Boatman]NAFI’s Paul Preidecker and Karen Kalishek give closing remarks at the NAFI Summit 2025 in Ohio. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
All in all, with the exception of the TSA training session, I felt nothing was missing from the program that would preclude it counting as a CFI renewal. NAFI currently gives FAA WINGS credit for the session, which helps a pilot complete ongoing training in lieu of a flight review, but it would gain a lot of value for attendees if the Summit could become, yes, an in-person FIRC for its investment of $300 to attend.
It certainly gave that value to me.
But the best part of the event came in the new connections I forged with fellow instructors, and the longtime friendships we have kept in the industry over the years. In those in-between moments, sitting around a table of 8 with a standard Midwestern buffet lunch, I met CFIs from around the country and across the globe, and understood again how much we have in common, and how much we can learn from each other, simply by taking the time and listening.
Our front yard hosts an absolute tyranny of thistle that springs back into life each year, starting in April and not letting up until the frost hits the pumpkin. Just when I think I have it all pulled, down to the tap roots, a few miscreant spikes push through the mulch and taunt me.
The spines prickle and irritate, so my RAF-issued work gloves have had no less than four sessions already of bending and turning soil and pulling carefully to get the most noxious stuff out.
The path to the RAF work party took us 120 nm to the northeast on a pretty late August Saturday. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The Cessna 182 has been here for camping fun before us. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
And that’s almost exactly the task assigned to me first when we taxied onto the ramp at Clarion County Airport, in western Pennsylvania. We secured the Cessna 182, walked through the FBO, and saw the wooded entrance to the camping site across the parking lot, not a football field length away.
RAF liaison for PA/WV Chip Vignolini hailed us from behind his truck, and promptly introduced us to co-liaison for PA Andrew Turner and sons Caleb and Josh, who would be working on building a lean-to for firewood, and splitting the logs piled up on the ground nearby. Right on our heels, RAF volunteer Doug Turnbull flew in and parked his Piper Cruiser next to us, and along with us was given the task of clearing the brush along the banks of the pond.
What pond?
Before the brush clearing around the pond, you would have no idea the pond was there! [Credit: Julie Boatman]Andrew Turner, RAF co-liaison for PA, recruited his sons Josh and Caleb, into lending a hand, and they were awesome. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
You couldn’t see it through the thicket of black locust trees, ragweed, and other scrub that had sprouted up since the last time Andrew and crew had tackled the area. They all had to go. So we rolled up our sleeves, and Stephen grabbed a strimmer (a weed-whacker to non-Brits), and we went to it.
The bench with a newly cleared view at KAXQ, just in time to say hello to the birds stopping by on migration southbound. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Kim Eaton, Andrew, Josh, and Doug Trumbull contemplate the utility of the wheelbarrow. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Two hours later, we not only could see the pond, but the area around the bench was clean as a whistle. We took a break from hauling brush to the other side of the camping area and throwing it into the forest, and then S took on his next assignment: grilling lunch. I worked on finding and clearing the trail supposedly circling the area. I found an old tree stand…and a lot of marshy weeds. But with more of S’s strimming work, a semblance of a path came out of the woods.
Round about noon, the burgers and hot dogs were ready on Chip’s portable grill, and everyone took a load off to enjoy the lunch al fresco. The young men had the shelter framed up, placed nearly equidistant from the twin RAF fire rings already in place. All it needed now was the aluminum roof secured and the RAF sign placed at the entrance to the camping area.
A shiny new sign was posted near the entrance to the camping area, alerting pilots to its location, as well as its benefactor. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The camping area at Clarion Country Airport hosts enough room for quite a few folks to pitch a tent. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Caleb and Chip drive in posts for the firewood lean-to. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
And that’s the story of most RAF work parties. You don’t need special skills (though if you have them, you’ll be assigned accordingly), and the most important thing to bring is a great attitude, some perseverance, and a tough pair of work gloves. With just eight folks pitching in, we conquered the task list in just a few hours.
We departed right after lunch to beat the potentially building thunderstorms along the Appalachian spine between KAXQ and our home airport at Hagerstown. Once more, we were spent physically but emotionally filled back up from the shared effort.
As it turns out, the airplane had visited KAXQ before, bringing its owners to explore the biking and hiking trails that thread throughout the forest south of the airport, all the way to the Clarion River.
One of two RAF fire rings installed at the camping site for pilots at Clarion County Airport. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The camping area at KAXQ is circled in RAF orange. [Credit: The RAF Airfield Guide]
Upon talking with Andrew and Chip, they filled us in on how unsung the place was, and mostly empty for much of the year. Though the camping area gets good use during the fall, there are still plenty of times when it doesn’t. And they’d love to see more folks take advantage of the easy access from the airport (which has lots of tie-downs, and self-serve fuel) and the quiet natural beauty that surrounds the place.
We’ve joined work parties before, twice at Moose Creek USFS in Idaho, and those strips get a lot of attention. But it’s the ones close by—Clarion is just 120 nm from home for us—that will entice us throughout the year.
They all deserve our loving care.
For more information on these incredible places, check out the RAF’s Airfield Guide. And to find a way you can help the RAF preserve and maintain airstrips and aircraft camping areas around the country, join them here.
The Clarion County Airport (the “new” one) was founded in 1974. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Exhausted but happy campers on the flight back to KHGR. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The sunlight filtered through a high layer of mackerel clouds as we flew towards it—well, really towards southern New Jersey. On an August Friday morning, the skies north of the DC metro area remained relatively quiet, prompting me to tune in Potomac Approach just to hear some back and forth. Stephen was asleep in the right seat; I take that as a vote of confidence that he slumbers so readily while I keep us on course.
The Maryland countryside wakes up as we fly to Millville to meet our LightHawk passenger for the conservation flight. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The flight plan in ForeFlight applied to the chart to track marshland, dredged island status, and new infrastructure along Cape May. [Credit: ForeFlight/Julie Boatman]
We’ve been tapped again for a LightHawk mission, supporting the conservation flying efforts of the nonprofit group I joined as a volunteer pilot last year. We’re building on our mission last year, which was to run GoPros on the wing and on the glareshield to capture the water levels along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic shorelines around the DelMarVa peninsula during a king high tide.
On this day we were booked to meet Jim Wright, volunteer photographer for The Nature Conservancy, and provide him lift for shooting the marshlands and barrier islands that pearl along the Atlantic from Sea Isle City to Cape May. He would also check out a handful of dredged islands for their status, and frame up in his lens the new boardwalk at the nature reserve in South Cape May Meadows.
As luck would have it, when we went out the evening before to preflight the Cessna 182 that our friends so graciously let us use, we needed to top up the tires with air. For anyone who has wrestled with the wheel pants and tire stems on the high-wing Cessna fleet, you know this is much easier said than done. After a lot of cursing—and a call to a generous A&P with the local Martin’s flight department who possessed the right fitting for the compressor’s air hose—we sorted out all three wheels. That should improve my landings!
Early Friday morning we topped off fuel at KHGR (avgas is running $5.95/gallon self-serve, which feels joyous) and headed east. Just off Hagerstown, a dancing oil pressure reading had me momentarily concerned but it settled down and appeared to be just the probe—the single most likely thing to fail on the combined Garmin G1000 NXi/Lycoming IO-540 installation.
We met up with Jim at Big Sky Aviation at KMIV, and Stephen headed for the airport café while I settled Jim into the right seat, with his laptop and camera ready to go. It wasn’t his first LightHawk flight by a long shot, so I briefed him on the specifics of the airplane and the flight, and he was delighted that we would be able to open the window all the way once airborne.
Looking out over the ocean as we fly south along the Atlantic shore. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The Atlantic coastline passes under the wheels of the Cessna 182 near Avalon, New Jersey. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
We took off for the eastern shore, and popped through a thin, scattered layer of coastal cumulus around 1,500 feet msl (and agl on this part of the state). The coast itself was clear, and it was too early for the banner towers to populate the skies. We headed south, making circles around various points of interest, trying to determine exactly which little spot of sand and sawgrass was the critical one. Fortunately, we had time in the tanks and capture it all just in case.
Once down around Cape May, Jim spied the new boardwalk that sits between the town and the lighthouse, and we made circles there to ensure we got it at every angle. Part of the mission was also to show the juxtaposition and interplay between development and nature preserve, so Jim took a few landscape shots with the town in the foreground and the beach and the wide Atlantic sea stretching out to the east.
The Nature Conservancy’s Jim Wright photographs the southern tip of Cape May, with South Cape May in the distance. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
On our way back to the Millville airport, we had one more point to spot, on the Maurice (pronounced “Morris”) River that weaves back up the Delaware River delta towards the town of Millville. Bluffs line part of the river. For the life of me, I saw no “bluffs,” but perhaps my perspective was skewed by too much time out west. Jim took enough shots to nearly fill his card, and when we landed back at KMIV, he ran out of battery as we were snapping a shot of us in front of the airplane. Impeccable timing to be sure!
Mission accomplished, we bid farewell to Jim—a screech owl expert who has written a book on the amazing birds—and packed up to head west before the chance of thunderstorms blossomed into a certainty. With 4.3 on the Hobbs back at KHGR, we pushed the trusty girl back into her nest, and patted her on the cowl. We collapsed back at home, spent but satisfied.
The LightHawk mission has once again brought meaning to our flying.
After 17 years of personal frustration with the hits and misses of the light sport aircraft category and sport pilot certificate, relief lies in plain sight. In fact, in about 3 months, I’ll have the ability to fly both airplanes I frequent—a Lockwood AirCam and a Cessna 182 under the FAA’s revised sport pilot privileges—announced with the confirmation of the MOSAIC final rule on Tuesday at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
That means (since I currently hold a higher level of pilot certificate) I can fly those aircraft with a valid driver’s license, rather than a medical certificate. This is a game changer for a lot of folks—and not just the senior cadre of flying friends I’ve accumulated over the years.
Table 9 Summary of Changes to Sport Pilot Privileges released by the FAA this week with the confirmation of the MOSAIC final rule. [Courtesy of the FAA/EAA]
Aircraft certification rules also open up with the launch of MOSAIC, including removing the weight limit imposed by the original LSA classification (1,320 pounds for land-based airplanes), no limit on number or horsepower of engines, and the expansion to four seats (though the pilot flying under sport privileges must stick to just one passenger). The upper limit for the stall speed for airplanes also expands, to a VS1 of 59 knots CAS, opening up not only the Skylane but a host of other single- and light twin-engine airplanes I have in my logbook.
I’ll write more on these memories at a later date, but the removal of the weight limit would have allowed Cessna much more flexibility in the design of the Skycatcher, and I argue would have made it an even better airplane, performing far better in the marketplace.
A host of already CS 23 certified airplanes (under EASA) are poised for deployment into the U.S. market too as a result, including the Elixir two-seat training airplane that also announced Part 23 certification this week (understanding that with that milestone passed, it can be flown by private pilots ahead of MOSAIC implementation).
The playing field just opened up significantly, with the cost to entry lowered substantially at the same time.
I cannot overstate how critical these changes will be in assuring the health and accessibility of general aviation as we integrate new technologies and ways of flying into the mix. I’ll see you in these new, blue skies!
There’s a common thread here. Each one helps add context and fluency to our daily flight ops, whether we fly for ourselves, professionally, or in pursuit of opportunity.
Making sense of all the data we carry in our pocket or purse (or just being able to find it when we need it, at the moment we need it)….this has been the holy grail, elusive to grasp even as we power up the devices we have access to.
Any aircraft owner or pilot flying a high performance airplane in the IFR system knows the intersection of documentation both operational and procedural. Tying all of it together has felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain—from planning the flight and ensuring the aircraft is ready (and legal) to executing a flight plan through the clouds, to recording it faithfully at the end (and getting credit for those approaches logged) and making appointments for the next inspections.
With the sequential release of Garmin’s Smart Charts and ForeFlight’s Dynamic Procedures, depending on which app you use in your planning and as a backup on the flight deck, you can now use the power of the database (Garmin proprietary for Smart Charts or Jeppesen for ForeFlight) to carve out the plan you expect, and then be able to change it on the fly—and only present the data (from NOTAMs to fixes and altitudes) relevant to the approach you plan to fly. Or the one ATC switches you over to (or you choose based on changing conditions).
You can then follow along as your blue ownship toodles through the course on your smart phone or tablet. Briefly. While flying the airplane IRL.
ForeFlight’s Dynamic Procedures reduces the info on the display (here shown on the iPad) and uses a unique sidebar to distill the information and put it into context. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Flying with Garmin Pilot testing Smart Charts on the map view. [Credit: Julie Boatman]The geo-referenced profile view on Garmin Pilot with Smart Charts enabled puts you on the approach, with an immediate visual representation. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
On the aircraft side, two recent updates to the airplane management app world continue to drive critical information into your device, and connect you remotely to your airplane, should you be lucky enough to own one of the new ones. The enabling technology underneath both the Cirrus IQ app and the Daher Me & My TBM (now in a Kodiak version) is Garmin’s GDL 60 datalink unit installed in the airplane.
It needs a connection in order to “go live” so, as it was mentioned in Daher’s press conference today, you need to make sure you park your TBM 960 or Kodiak 900 in a pot with LTE 4G service. Hopefully your hangar has this capability, to start with.
If so, you can wake up the airplane remotely, and find out the fuel, TKS, oxygen, and database status on your phone…before you call the FBO to truck you over some avgas or Jet-A. Pretty amazing stuff.
Cirrus’ Todd Simmons talks about the connected nature of the Cirrus Experience at its press conference at Oshkosh 2025. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Capturing the latest connected Cirrus SR22 G7+ at EAA AirVenture 2025. [Credit: Julie Boatman]Daher Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert and customer service developer Mathieu Pardo talk about the connectivity needed through the Garmin GDL 60 to enable the Me & My Kodiak app. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Plus, you can stay connected with your friends in the type association, comparing notes on landing prowess and efficiency. If you want. Or you can just assess your own performance and take note accordingly the next time you meet up with an instructor. Other OEMs have similar programs in development, but it’s cool to see Cirrus and Daher leading the pack here in creating the ecosystem that can serve you up the data you need. When you need it.
Stay tuned for more connectivity news as EAA AirVenture 2025 continues….now with charging stations everywhere, appropriately.
