briefs

The FAA currently maintains nine Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Service Area offices, located in each of the FAA regional offices, but plans to consolidate them into just three regional sites in 2006. “The decision to restructure the Service Area offices was made to reduce overhead positions and operating costs, and eliminate redundancies,” the FAA said […]

Richard Branson’s new spaceport in New Mexico could have competition from a similar site in Texas, according to an Associated Press report. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, had bought 165,000 acres near El Paso that will be used as a test site and an eventual spaceport. The AP said Bezos has also bought 25 […]

The European Space Agency yesterday launched their first test satellite for the Galileo project, which will comprise a constellation of 30 satellites to rival the U.S. GPS system. Galileo is expected to be complete by 2010, with some services starting as soon as 2008. Its global positioning capabilities will be more accurate than the current […]

Online training is now available to help general aviation pilots understand the complexities of today’s stricter airspace rules and reduce violations of restricted airspace, the FAA said on Tuesday. The training is meant for any pilots who fly in or near restricted areas, especially around Washington, D.C. The course provides detailed information on the requirements […]

Modifications to the Los Angeles Class B airspace went into effect last week, lowering the base altitudes for several VFR flyways. The new altitudes should have been printed on the back of the new Terminal Area Chart that was published Dec. 22, but due to an internal FAA glitch, the changes weren’t made. “The Class […]

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AVmail: December 26, 2005 Reader mail this week about what you want in your airplane, in your record books, in your restricted airspace and more.

COLUMNS The Pilot’s Lounge #95: Amazing! There Are TFRs That Make SenseTurns out there is a procedure in place to allow general aviation aircraft to provide relief in disaster areas, and the folks who created and manage the procedure know what they are doing. AVweb’s Rick Durden is already helping plan for the next disasters […]

The legal definition of a four-letter word (and not any of those you might be thinking) determined a Michigan truck owner’s insurance must pay to replace an airplane that hit the truck while the pilot was trying to land it on a grass strip near Cedar Springs in 2003. According to the Insurance JournalKevin Gould […]