On The Fly…

Small aircraft manufacturers waiting for money to rain down on them from the government will wait a long time. AVweb reported Thursdaythat the Senate had approved tax breaks worth $245 million for plane-makers but it was just the extension of delivery dates, to the end of 2005, on aircraft qualifying for bonus depreciation. Good news, indeed, but nothing really new…

There’s a tragic twist to the bizarre death of an aircraft mechanic in Grand Junction, Colo., last week. As we reported Thursday, John Hoffman died when struck by a propeller that broke off a pilotless airplane that taxied into a parked plane. At first, no one knew (or would say) how the plane started but it turns out Hoffman’s unidentified son had hand-started the plane and it got away from him…

Albuquerque-based Eclipse Aviation’s latest competitor may also soon become a neighbor. Excel-Jet, which is currently located in Colorado, announced it plans to move New Mexico to take advantage of incentives there. The company plans to build a $950,000 single-engine four-place jet called the Sport Jet…

If you’ve ever landed on a narrow runway, say 50 feet across, you might be able to empathize with these pilots. The plane was being delivered to a museum at the Rand Airport in South Africa. With our thanks to Mark Monse, the original e-mail stakes the claim, “(elevation 5568 feet with 4898 long x 50 feet wide runway!) The 747-200 outer-to-outer main gear tire width is 41.33 ft. Empty aircraft Vref (landing speed) was 115 kts!” The aircraft was delivered in March. Click through, here, for the pictures, and have a nice day … drenched in humility.