Author: Mark Mamelson

Take Me to Your Leader—Mark McInerney In response to a recommendation set forth by an independent study team, NASA has committed to assuming a more formal posture vis-à-vis humankind’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)—known formerly and less equivocally as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). For purpose imbuing the undertaking with a caricature of legitimacy, the agency has appointed Mark…

$28-Billion for Nothing Discernible The Biden administration has made public its intention to sink some $28-billion into as-of-yet unspecified technologies for purpose of mitigating, ostensibly, the alarming number of aircraft proximity-incidents (read near-misses) by which the U.S. air traffic management system has been plagued of late. The ambiguous language in which the Biden White House…

From A Priori to Zero Tolerance  Alleging the world-leading orbital space-launch provider’s hiring practices discriminate against asylum seekers and refugees, the Biden DOJ has sued SpaceX. In a statement reeking of activism and sanctimony, the DOJ set forth: “The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and…

Lufthansa Air-Crew Pioneers Unique Sicily-Malta Transition   The air-crew of Lufthansa Flight 306 bound from Germany’s Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to Sicily’s Catania–Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) is believed to have grown frustrated after their aircraft was denied landing clearance and rerouted to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. Prior to proceeding south toward Malta, the Lufthansa pilots skillfully…

Bill Seeks Raise Business Jet Fuel Tax by Almost 9x U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (Democrat, Massachusetts), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (New York, 7th District) announced on 19 July 2023 that they’d introduced a bill titled The Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax (FATCAT) Act. …

In an instantiation of the Biden administration’s marked propensity for predicating partisanship over public good, the White House stated on Thursday, 09 March 2021 that Phil Washington, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), needs no waiver from Congress to be confirmed. Appointment to high positions in numerous federal regulatory agencies is…

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)—in ostensible keeping with its charter of “foster[ing] an environment that allows business aviation to thrive in the United States and around the world”—welcomed the release of a federal omnibus appropriations bill that includes several measures the organization maintains will promote a more robust aviation industry.  The 4,155 page, $1.7-trillion…

Provided a crystal-ball by which to glimpse their creation’s future, the bigwigs at Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon might well have forgone Lightning II and instead dubbed the F-35 the Paris Hilton, a conditionally attractive, pedigreed prima donna with no perceptible talent or ability—excepting spending other people’s money and fomenting controversy.  The F-35 is equally deserving of the…

Year of the Water Dog Michael Jackson’s Thriller album sits atop the charts. Argentina has invaded the Falkland Islands. Leonid Breznjev, Princess Grace, and John Belushi die. Prince William is born. The Vietnam Memorial is erected. The world is in the midst of the worst financial crisis since World War II. DeLorean Motor Company goes…

The Learjet is dead. Long live the Learjet. Asked if I loved or hated flying the Learjet, I’d answer, both. I loved flying the critters, but I hated flying them for a living. The sheer, kick-in-the-pants performance of the twenty and thirty series was exhilarating, but the machines played hell on my neck, nerves, and…