Sun ‘N Fun

Piper’s new CEO, Simon Caldecott, says the company has had a good year in 2012 so far and looking ahead for the rest of the year and to 2013, it sees the training market as a big driver. “One of the things we’re going to do is to get back into the training market in […]

Amanda Younkin Franklin died from injuries she sustained in a crash with her husband Kyle Franklin nearly one year ago, and at the 2012 Sun ‘n Fun fly-in we had the opportunity to ask Kyle how he’s doing. Kyle was at the back of the airshow performers’ hangar when AVweb‘s Glenn Pew found him. The […]

At Sun ‘n Fun this week, Sporty’s Pilot Shop introduced Stratus, the first completely wire-free weather receiver for the iPad. The small $799 device streams information from GPS and ADS-B with no monthly subscription costs. The unit collects NEXRAD radar, text weather, TFRs and aircraft position, and wirelessly streams that data to the popular ForeFlight […]

Cessna’s new version of the Corvalis, the TTX, will include an option for flight into known icing, the company said at Sun ‘n Fun this week. The FIKI system can provide up to two and a half hours of protection from most ice attaching to the airframe, with virtually no impact on performance, Cessna said. […]

Build A Plane, the nonprofit group that helps school kids build their own airplanes, is asking kids around the country to pitch in and help to raise money for the organization, and win prizes in the process. AOPA announced at Sun ‘n Fun this week that they have signed on as a partner in the […]

The Black Diamond high-performance, high-precision jet team is based at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport and mixes Air Force, Navy and civilian pilots flying L-39s and Polish-made Mig-17s (one Lim-5 and one Lim-6). The team’s two civilian pilots include the CEO of its main sponsor, Harbortouch, a touchscreen point-of-sale system. Its Air Force component includes former […]

The Sky Arrow, a composite, tandem airplane with a pusher prop, is under new ownership, the new owners announced at Sun ‘n Fun on Wednesday. Magnaghi Aeronautica, based in Naples, Italy, has bought the design, first introduced in 1993, and plans to upgrade it with new features such as larger wing tanks, improved aerodynamic design […]

Only 12 humans have ever walked on the surface of the Moon; only one of them, Harrison Schmitt, was a scientist, and he came to Sun ‘n Fun this week. Schmitt, a geologist, is appearing at several events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission. In a news conference on Wednesday morning, […]

After six months of beta testing with real-world users, Andres Darvasi has rolled out FAST, an anywhere-accessible online tool that aims to provide one-stop shopping for aircraft record-keeping, maintenance and pilot-specific concerns. The level of detail available means that pilots can track individual components from the standpoint of cost and acquisition source, through any weight […]