ANN E-I-C Note: Jon Thornburgh is an aviation expert with a unqiue perspective on a number of facets of aviation. Missing too long from ANN, we're pleased to share with you some of his recent comments on the FAA's poorly-received 'Air-Tour' NPRM. "Today there are 200,000 less pilots in the United States than there were 30 years ago! The reasons are varied, including more expensive aircraft, more expensive insurance, fewer airports, a poor economy, terrorism restrictions, and more complicated airspace.  But the single most important factor discouraging people from becoming pilots is the FAA. The recently proposed "Air Tour" NPRM is a perfect example of the multitude of regulations piled on top of regulations which has discouraged all but the

Grin And Bear It... ANN's top photo-geek, Tyson Rininger, was apparently having an interesting day and sent this along to us... for your amusement. The ad series Tyson parodied is a popular one that has seen a number of imitators in various subjects. For the aero-minded among us, this has to be one of our favorites. We thought you might enjoy it...

Aero-News: Quote of the Day

"If a final and permanent solution is not achievable, more than 30 Class III airports may be forced to shut down scheduled commercial operations." Source: Regional Aviation Partners (RAP) Executive Director Maurice Parker commenting on FAA's Part 139 Certification of Airports rule change, which scheduled go into effect at the conclusion of a 120-day comment period that ends June 9, 2004. RAP says the rule change must be rejected because it focuses on a particular class of aircraft -- 10 to 30 seat turboprop aircraft -- which are used almost exclusively in small communities that will require airport certification, adding thousands of dollars in additional expense to consumers, air ca