Trikepilot Social

Existing airport community homeowners might enjoy continued "through the fence" access to their associated runways, but things may be very different for similar communities in the future, according to AOPA. In 2009, the FAA sought to eliminate through the fence access to airport taxiways and runways for aircraft based on adjacent private property. That general layout is popular at many airport community neighborhoods. AOPA says the FAA is now leaning toward a more considered approach for those airports that currently include, or were largely built around, a through the fence concept. At those airports, AOPA says the FAA may avoid broad-stroke regulation and apply a by-case approach. But looking forward, there's still a chance that aiports seeking to provide those access privileges in the future may simply be out of luck.

By now you've likely heard about John and Martha King being held at gunpoint by police in Santa Barbara last weekend. We've already heard from more than 100 readers about how they feel about the whole thing. Now, we want to know how you feel — not about what happened to the Kings, but where GA fits in the whole scheme of security and crime.Plus: Last week, we asked AVweb readers about a mid-air collision between a radio-controlled model airplane and a biplane — and whether that indicated a need for new regulations. Click through to see the breakdown of answers.

Your AirVenture photos continue to dominate the "POTW" submission box! This one, from John E. Rees of Blacklick, Ohio, is our latest baseball cap winner (and, incidentally, our current desktop wallpaper).

Air Force veteran Richard Young will attempt, this Sept. 11, to establish a closed-course speed record using unleaded fuel developed by Swift Enterprises. Young will be flying his one-of-a-kind Western Air Racing Special, which is a "purpose built closed course pylon racer" that he flew at Reno in 2007, 2008, and 2009, according to his website. The current and applicable closed-course speed record for a piston-engine aircraft weighing between 300 and 500 kilograms was set in 2004 at 238 mph, according to Young. That aircraft burned conventional leaded avgas. Young hopes to run the course at 260 mph in his aircraft burning Swift's product and "verify the performance characteristics of clean burning bio fuel" at the same time. That could be difficult to do in one 62.1 mile stint flown at 260 mph (or about 15 minutes), but we'll be watching for whatever information the attempt produces.

Chandler Negrete, an 8-year-old boy, is preparing to fly from Arizona to New York in a Cessna 172 with an instructor to raise money for children with parents serving overseas in the military. The instructor will wield pilot-in-command responsibility for the flight, but clearly the intent is to get Negrete some stick time. The third-grader is currently preparing for the flight and has accumulated all of 12 hours in a simulator and 12 hours in an actual airplane. His instructor, Matt Forsey, works for Sawyer Aviation in Arizona. The team is seeking donations and hopes to raise between $80,000 and $100,000 for their charity's cause. But, according to a local news report, Negrete "needs to collect $15,000 in donations to cover the cost of the flight," and no date has yet been set for the trip. Of course, for some pilots, simply the proposition of the flight itself may conjure memories of another one altogether.