FAA History Lesson -- August 11

Just in case you think I’ve forgotten about the history lessons, I thought I’d tell you I haven’t. I thought about putting up my favorite nonsensical governmentese...




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...but I was afraid folks might not see the humor in it. The fact is, I haven’t run across anything that caught my attention. I missed the big piece of history while I was out of town -- the PATCO strike on August 3, 1981 -- and besides that, nothing much as popped up. Here, I’ll show you what I mean. This is the most interesting thing I found on this date in the FAA:

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Aug 11, 1971: FAA expanded requirements for an anticollision system of flashing aviation-red or aviation-white lights for night operations. The agency mandated that the system be installed on all powered U.S. civil aircraft with a standard airworthiness certificate by Aug 12, 1972. (Aircraft with experimental, restricted, or provisional type certificates were exempted.) Previously, FAA had required the anticollision light system only on large aircraft and on certain small aircraft as specified in their airworthiness certificates. The agency required this system in addition to the position-light system carried by all aircraft on their tails and wingtips. ”

See what I mean ?

Don Brown
August 11, 2007