In Brief

BLOCKQUOTE> Sino Swearingen lost its chief test pilot, Carroll Beeler, Saturday morning when the SJ30-2 twinjet he was flying crashed in rugged terrain north of Del Rio, Texas. Beeler, 59, had taken off from San Antonio, and was alone in the airplane. A chase aircraft witnessed the crash and reported it. The jet was flying […]

EAA has 18 down and 32 to go in its 50 Flags to Kitty Hawk initiative to commemorate the centennial of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. Another 13 members have been chosen to fly their states’ flags to Kitty Hawk for a ceremony and declaration of their state’s “day” at the Wright Brothers’ National […]

The move from the orange terrorism alert status to yellow has not made flying any easier, yet, As of AVweb’s deadline Wednesday, there was no change in the flight restrictions imposed during the orange-level threat. The FAA’s William Shumann said that while there could still be relaxations, there are no guarantees. “Pilots should not assume […]

A North Carolina legislator was honored for helping to save an airport. AOPA presented Jim Black (D-100th Dist.) with a citation for his work in preventing closure of Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill. The airport is owned by the University of North Carolina, which claims it’s a financial drain and wants to build another […]

An Oregon pilot made sure American troops knew the Sun ‘n Fun crowd was thinking about them. Dean Zinter, of Portland, collected signatures on two signs at the Florida fly-in’s warbird area. Thousands of people added their names to the signs, which will be sent to a Marine aviation unit in the United Arab Emirates… […]

Mark Rosenker has been named vice chairman of the NTSB. President Bush confirmed the appointment Friday. Rosenker joined the board March 24 after a two-year stint as deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House Military Office… The Navy is spending another $192 million on the Osprey. The Navy awarded the contract […]

Forget Stealth, how about the invisible plane? NASA is tinkering with a coat that makes the wearer seem invisible. Kazutoshi Obana has developed the coat, which has caught NASA’s eye for — among other things – aeronautical designs. The idea is to coat the inside of an airplane cockpit with micro reflectors so pilots could […]

The FAA (or is it the TSA?) eased restrictions ever so slightly at Washington- and New York-area towered airports covered by the ADIZs on the weekend, allowing pilots and students to do some pattern work. From 0600 Saturday to 02000 Sunday, those staying in the pattern didn’t have to file a flight plan and they […]

NOTAMs, wherefore art thou? It’s getting easier to find NOTAMs online, though calling FSS before every flight is still the only way to be sure. But you can get a head start, at these links: the FAA NOTAM site, which is updated every 28 days, and the NBAA site, which posts major TFRs and frequently […]

Air show performer Chris Smisson was killed Saturday in a strange accident at the Gulf Salute 2003 air show at Tyndall AFB, near Panama City, Fla. Witnesses told the Panama City News Herald that Smisson, 55, a Delta international captain and U.S. Air Force veteran, was to race a rocket-propelled truck on the runway. When […]