Air Shows & Events

AOPA has a strong presence this week at EAA AirVenture, and visitors exploring the central show grounds can find the AOPA sweepstakes airplane on display, a 1963 Beech Debonair, a restoration project still in progress. The engine was in good shape when AOPA acquired it, but it has a completely new avionics panel — after […]

Jetman Yves Rossy sat with AVweb Friday at AirVenture to discuss what it’s like to “be the airplane” as he flies with a six-foot-wing and four microturbines strapped to his back. Rossy explained that his motivation for development of the wing had nothing to do with publicity, but “to be free in the air” and […]

Sean D. Tucker, aerobatic champion and legendary air show performer, has taken over the honorary chairmanship of the EAA’s Young Eagles program. He replaces Chesley Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles, the airline pilots known for ditching an A320 in the Hudson River after losing both engines. “It’s my second full-time job,” Tucker said. “That’s how committed […]

Nando Groppo, an Italian aircraft manufacturer, debuted their Trial light sport aircraft this week at EAA AirVenture. The all-metal airplane is a short-takeoff-and-landing design capable of operations from rough runways, with folding wings for easy storage. The wing change requires only about five minutes, for one person, with no tools required, the company said. The […]

With Continental Motors tilting strongly toward aerodiesels as a growth strategy, CEO Rhett Ross says hes less convinced that mogas will play a major role in the aviation fuels market. In this podcast recorded this week at AirVenture 2013, Ross said Continental will remain committed to gasoline engines, especially its successful line of large displacement […]

Amid all the noise and smoke of the afternoon airshow at EAA AirVenture, an interlude featuring two eSpyder aircraft from GreenWing was notable for its silence. The single-seat aircraft, which resemble monowing ultralights, flew over show central, low and slow, executing gentle turns driven by battery-powered electric motors. The aircraft were recently certified in Germany […]

The director of Disney’s latest blockbuster animated movie says he hopes the knowledgeable audience at AirVenture Oshkosh finds it both inspiring and entertaining. Planes director Klay Hall said in an interview with AVweb the movie, which weaves a classic tale of grit, determination and a little luck overcoming adversity and various antagonists, was a lot […]

At AirVenture, Jeppesen has introduced a new app that runs a little against the trend in app development in general and frankly, Im happy to see it. As described in this video, the app is called Mobile FliteDeck VFR and its aimed specifically at VFR-only pilots. And given the way flying habits may be changing-less […]

I have this recurring fantasy that Id like to work for the FAA for a couple of days just to give someone a break. If I could pick the days, it would have been the ones where the FAA was reviewing Yves Rossys plans to fly a routine in the airshow at AirVenture this week. […]

Robert Baslee’s Airdrome Aeroplanes was contracted to produce a replica Spirit of St. Louis aircraft for a bank. He says the aircraft has attracted enough attention that he now plans to produce the aircraft as a kit. It won’t be his first. His company has been producing WWI replica aircraft (Fokkers, Sopwith designs, Nieuports — […]