In Brief

Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation announced Tuesday it has successfully completed high-speed dive testing to .90 Mach for its seven-seat SJ30 light biz jet. The manufacturer lost its chief test pilot, Carroll Beeler, last year when the SJ30-2 aircraft crashed during dive testing to .9 Mach… Delta says it needs $1 billion in salary concessions from […]

Two pilots died in a midair collision near Essex County Airport (Caldwell) in New Jersey on Saturday. The two aircraft, reportedly a Piper and a Cessna, were both in the pattern, one for landing and one doing touch-and-goes… Extra Aircraft‘s EA-500 six-seat single-engine turboprop has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Company officials […]

Here’s a new air show for the calendar, especially if you like Mustangs. Gathering of Mustangs and Legends — The Final Roundup will be held at Reno Stead Field June 9 to June 12, 2006. Organizers hope to attract 100 of the estimated 150 P-51s still flying and many of the Second World War pilots […]

The Air Force spent $2.6 billion on 50 transport planes it can’t use according to a report by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General. The C-130Js don’t meet operational requirements and can’t be used in combat. Both Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department say the C-130J program is meeting all cost and contractual targets… […]

A cheap ($100,000) surveillance drone will start service in Iraq this summer. The U.S. Marines have ordered several ScanEagledrones that can linger over a battlefield at up to 16,000 feet while beaming real-time images of the world below. The drones have a 10-foot wingspan and weigh just 33 pounds… A Virgin Atlantic Airways pilot suspected […]

Southwest Airlines CEO James Parker unexpectedly resigned on Thursday. Gary Kelly, who was CFO, will take over the slot… A military plane carrying Britain’s Prince Charles was involved in an incident in March during which it may have come close to a midair collision with an airliner, according to news reports over the weekend. The […]

The pilot of a single-engine Cessna was handcuffed and questioned when he landed at a Lancaster, Pa., airport last Friday after violating a TFR that accompanied a visit by President Bush… Cessna and Learjet would get tax breaks worth up to a half-billion dollars over 10 years, in bills now pending in Congress, The Washington […]

Oceanside Airport will have new hangars. Supports at the city council chambers of Oceanside, Calif., last week collected to encourage their representatives to adopt the local airport’s master plan. The airport crowd held its ground for five hours and was rewarded with a council resolution to start building new hangars. “This is what we have […]

The FAA gets Orville and the Department of Transportation gets Wilbur in the naming of their respective buildings to honor the Wright brothers’ achievments. The ceremony was held Wednesday to rename the FAA building the Orville Wright Federal Building and the DOT headquarters the Wilbur Wright Federal Building. Previously they were known as 10-A and […]

Aviation advocates in Australia say proposed fee changes at airports could drive general aviation operators out of business… AOPA “surprised and shocked” by remarks last week by Sen. John D. “Jay” Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) calling aircraft “killing machines,” saying large corporate aircraft could inflict half the damage seen on 9/11… The Pennsylvania legislature is working to […]