Aviation News

I think if you explained to someone outside of aviation that, by the time we’re all done, it will have taken 10 years to develop a new, unleaded, high-octane aviation gasoline, they’d believe you to be making it all up. And that doesn’t count 30 years of half-serious research on the topic hardly worthy of […]

At Sun n’ Fun 2016, the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association(LAMA), in coordination with sponsor Aviators Hot Line, hosted four of the industry’s favorite journalists as part of the show’s Great Debates series. The journalists—General Aviation News publisher Ben Sclair, Flying magazine senior editor Pia Bergqvist, Plane and Pilot editor Robert Goyer and AVweb editorial director […]

The FAA’s rules currently forbid any operator to fly a drone above people, but the FAA now is reviewing that decision, based on a report (PDF) and recommendations from an aviation rulemaking committee. The ARC’s consensus report, submitted last Friday, recommends establishing four small UAS categories, with the risk level to people defined primarily by […]

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the biggest story here at Sun ‘n Fun this week was one we didn’t even expect: EAA’s announcement that it has partnered with Dynon Avionics to bring less expensive, non-certified avionics to the cockpits of certified aircraft. The first AML-STC list is modest: Cessna 172s and Piper’s PA-28 and […]

The Commemorative Air Force is at Sun ‘n Fun with one of airplanes it’s been flying the longest. The B-17Texas Raidersis a must for warbird buffs who want to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of a true-to-life war machine. view on YouTube

Alaska Air, based in Seattle, has agreed to acquire San Francisco-based Virgin America for $2.6 billion, the companies announced this week. “With Alaska Airlines’ strong foundation in the Pacific Northwest, and Virgin America’s California hubs … [the combined airline will offer] more than 1,200 daily departures to destinations across North and Central America,” Alaska Airlines […]

General aviation manufacturers have been talking for years about revising Part 23, the rule that regulates certification of small aircraft, and a draft new rule was recently released by the FAA. This far-ranging rule will affect almost everyone involved in general aviation, especially aircraft buyers and aircraft manufacturers. Tom Peghiny, president of Flight Design USA, […]

Two people are dead after a Jeep Grand Cherokee collided with an F/A-18E Super Hornet in California. The female passenger in the Jeep died at the scene and the male driver died later in the hospital after the SUV ran into the horizontal stabilizer of the fighter on the ramp at Lemore Naval Air Station […]

Icon has recently started to ask buyers with deposits on the A5 light sport aircraft to sign a sales contract before taking delivery of their airplanes, and the length of that contract — 41 pages (PDF) — is unusual for general aviation, as are a number of Icon’s stipulations. The contract requires that every pilot […]

Icon Aircraft founder Kirk Hawkins has famously said his company aims to reshape—actually reinvent—general aviation by “democratizing” access to it. What that means exactly is about as clear as mud, but this week, Icon’s buyer agreement escaped into the wild, and it appears as though Icon’s view of “democratization” centers on a legal construct that […]