The City of Santa Monica is insisting on creating an unsafe situation at the beleaguered airport with their decision to devote another 3.5 million taxpayer dollars to remove runway pavement in excess of that currently devoted to actual use after the city ‘shortened’ the runway in its continuing battle against all things aviation.
The Santa Monica Airport Association is protesting the situation and urging pilots all over the world to contact the city government to stop what many consider to be a dangerous program. They call him ‘Mr. Mustang.’ Stallion 51 founder and chief pilot Lee Lauderback has reached a significant milestone in his aviation career, racking up 10,000 hours in the P-51 Mustang. Lauderback is thought to be the only person in history to reach that mark in the airplane. Lauderback was one of the first civilian pilots for the USAF Heritage Flight program. In 2013, he was inducted in the EAA Warbirds of America Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he became a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP). In 2017, the FAA recognized him for his 50-plus years of safe flight operations and his many contributions to aviation safety, presenting him with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. Most recently, he was awarded the 2017 ICAS Sword of Excellence Award. Nine aviation organizations have written a
letter to Ali Bahrami, FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, calling for the agency to shelve its plan to test random urine samples collected during pilot medical exams. "On February 27, 2018, staff from the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) presented an overview of the proposed study and detailed its purpose, regulatory authority, protocol, and research team members to AOPA. At the conclusion of that meeting, CAMI doctors indicated that their next steps were to collect additional input from other industry stakeholders in the following months. No others received such a detailed briefing," the letter states. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!
Airborne 04.29.19 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Monday, April 29th, 2019... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Sophie Hurlock, Laura Hutson, Brianne Cross, and Christopher Odom, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:
- Santa Monica Destruction Continues
- Mr. Mustang! Lee Lauderback Reaches 10,000 Hours In The P-51
- Aviation Groups Object To FAA Proposal For Drug Testing From Medical Exams
- Boeing Takes Hit To Profits From 737 MAX Issues
- ACJ319neo Makes Successful First Flight
- ExpressJet Airlines Introduces Flexible-Option Rotor Transition Program
- Twin Commander Aircraft Supports Fleet With Free Upgrade Kits
Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!
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