Business Aviation

The Aircraft Electronics Association opened its 56th convention and trade show in Las Vegas Tuesday with an eye-opening number: $6.3 billion. That’s the current size of the avionics industry — including new installation and retrofits, but not repairs — according to a recently compiled economic study done by the association based on 2012 sales. The […]

If the tower at the local airport was supposed to be closed but wasn’t it’s because someone convinced the FAA that closing it would pose a threat to national security. At least 24 towers that would normally have been closed under the mathematical limits set by the agency before sequestration took effect (fewer than 150,000 […]

A 57-year-old Boeing project manager named Jonathan Standridge has decided to take a personal role in the rehabilitation of convicted airplane thief 21-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, aka the “Barefoot Bandit.” Harris-Moore is serving a seven-year sentence for crimes related to the boats, cars and airplanes that he stole or took on joy rides. Pending charges may […]

Thursday, Beechcraft announced that it has filed suit in Federal Claims Court “to contest the U.S. Air Force’s decision” to move forward with a $427 million contract awarded to Embraer/Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). The Air Force has twice selected the Embraer/SNC Super Tucano over Beechcraft Corporation’s AT-6 for its Light Air Support program, but Beechcraft’s […]

As we told you Monday the popular head of EAA’s homebuilder section Chad Jensen was dismissed from that position but EAA was still hopeful of finding a place for him in the organization. That apparently happened and Jensen is now Homebuilt Technical Specialist through EAA’s Member Services team. Read Jensen’s post on the Van’s Airforce […]

Critics that include the National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA) and a senior curator for the Smithsonian Institution have refuted claims made this month and supported by Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft that Gustav Whitehead piloted a powered aircraft years before the Wright Brothers. The claim, which specifically stated that Whitehead first flew his original powered […]

The one-of-a-kind Orbis flying eye hospital will get an upgrade this year, transitioning from a DC-10 to an MD10 donated by FedEx. The flying hospital travels the world to deliver surgical eye care and training to people in poor countries, with a fully equipped surgical suite and staff on board the aircraft. “The new MD10 […]

A young upwardly mobile first officer for a major airline says the math doesn’t support the notion of a pilot shortage anytime soon. Brant Harrison naturally has a vested interest in the pilots ahead of him on the seniority list moving on and when he heard about studies like one from Boeing suggesting the looming […]

There’s been more movement in EAA’s executive suite. Chad Jensen, EAA’s Homebuilder Community Manager, was released from the post on Friday. Jensen confirmed his sacking in an email to AVweb and also on the Van’s Air Force forum. He declined comment on Sunday. EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski said Jensen’s dismissal was a “personnel situation” that […]

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is considering whether to investigate why the crew of an Air Canada flight ignored two orders from air traffic control to abort a landing at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport last week. Controllers spotted a ground radar return showing an object near the threshold of the runway the flight from Edmonton was […]