Wright Brothers Anniversary and Year End Wrap-up

December 17 was the anniversary of Orville and Wilbur’s first powered flight, on the sands of Kill Devil Hill, at Kitty Hawk, NC, on a windy winter day! And more than a center later, how far we’ve come! Now we have drone’s and UAV’s, that’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’s.

In order to learn more about drones’ and UAV’s, I took the online training and test 4 years ago, in June 2021, and now I have a ‘Remote Pilot’ certificate, issued by the FAA, to fly a UAV, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, aka small Unmanned Aircraft System aka sUAS. But I have not attempted to fly one yet, via remote control, nor do I own one, yet.

And December 17 was also the 90th anniversary of the venerable Doulas DC-3, shown below, which is a workhorse! It was manufactured by Donald Douglas at his factory in Santa Monica, CA. It has served both the military the airlines, as well as many other civilian roles over the decades. And they are still in service! I got checked out in a DC-3 as co-pilot in September 2021. What fun!

Douglas DC-3 Transport

It’s been a few months since I’ve written anything for this blog. I have been busy and I also hit a writer’s block! Ugh. No fun. Hopefully that’s behind me now. There’s a lot going on in the aviation world, so there’s should be plenty to comment on., and stories to share, and lessons to be learned.

Looking back, what’s the biggest thing that’s happened this year in the aviation world? Without a doubt, it’s the FAA’s passing what is called MOSAIC, which is a new ruling, that was announced by Transportation Secretary Duffy at AirVenture in July. It affects both pilot and aircraft certification. It simplifies things.

MOSAIC is the ‘Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification’, which is a mouthful. It spells out how both ‘Sport Pilot’, which is a grade of FAA Pilot Certificate, and ‘Sport Aircraft’ which is a category of aircraft, will be certified, going forward. It simplifies the process, saving both time and money. It’s been 20 years in the making. The part affecting pilot certification went into effect on October 22, 2025, after a 90-day review. The part affecting aircraft certification will go into effect next July 2026 during AirVenture.

It’s way too soon to have any accident statistics for this year, but we got off to a really bad start in January, with two tragic accidents. The first was the accident involving an experimental aircraft, an RV-10, when the gullwing door suddenly popped open after takeoff, while climbing out, and the pilot struggled to hold the door while trying to maintain control and fly the aircraft. He was not successful and crashed into a building while trying to return to land at Fullerton Airport, in Fullerton, CA. Both occupants, the father and daughter were killed. Tragic!

The second was the tragic mid-air collision in Washington, DC, in January, between the RJ (Regional Jet) on final approach to Ronald Regan National Airport, and the Army helicopter over the Potomac River. Tragic. All persona onboard both aircraft were killed.

One of the goals of my writing this is to hopefully make a difference towards safer pilots and safer skies. This is part of my contribution to general aviation safety, as a safety advocate. I am also a speaker, and an active CFII, specializing in IFR training.

In fact, on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, I am scheduled to speak to a group of pilots at Torrance Airport (KTOA), in Torrance, CA. My topic; ‘Aircraft Checkouts, there’s more to it now’. I will be addressing MOSAIC as part of this. It is open to the public and will count for FAA Wings Credit.

Finally, if you need an experienced instructor to work with you, in YOUR AIRPLANE (I only work with aircraft owners), to improve ‘rusty’ piloting skills, provide avionics training, add your instrument rating, or anything else, I AM available! Contact me for more information.

Wishing all of you who read this, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Fly safely,

John