briefs

Well, we’ve heard those who fly motorized paragliders called a few names but “huge and noisy predators” was new to us. Unless, of course, you’re a California least tern intent on ensuring there are future generations of your species. The airspace over California’s Ormond Beach, near Oxnard, has become a battleground between environmentalists determined to […]

The highly regarded Commander line of four-place luxury touring aircraft got a new lease on life last week with the acquisition of the type certificates, tooling and inventory of the bankrupt Commander Aircraft Corporation by an owner-based company called the Commander Premier Aircraft Corporation. Financial details of the acquisition were not released but a news […]

It won’t be long before aircraft are not only affected by weather forecasts, they’ll be helping to gather the information to make them more accurate. SpectraSensors, a high-tech spinoff company of the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has developed a sensor and air sampling system that can be installed on aircraft and monitor the water vapor […]

COLUMNS CEO of the Cockpit #46: Sidelined From Summer Sub-Sonic FunFor the first time in his flying career, AVweb’s CEO of the cockpit has the summer off. It wasn’t his choice, but he’s enjoying it better now with a little help from his friends. ___________AIRMANSHIP The Mountain CheckoutIf words like “mountains obscured” and “rotor cloud” […]

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CarterCopter on Thursday released more details about the

With summer in full swing, thunderstorm season is reaching its peak as well. As a reminder about the dangers, AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation has released a new four-minute online refresher course on avoiding thunderstorms. The course is free to all. Also, you can check out the historical patterns of thunderstorms in your region thanks to […]

The world’s first liquid-hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle has flown successfully, AeroVironment of California announced last week. The Global Observer High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) prototype has a 50-foot wingspan and is intended for operations at up to 65,000 feet, where it can fly for over a week with a payload of up to 1,000 pounds, the company […]

TAB Express International, a flight school in Deland, Fla., abruptly closed down on June 15, putting 49 employees out of work and stranding 80 students, some of whom had paid up to $100,000 each in up-front tuition. The school blamed the shutdown on an abrupt cutoff of financing from Key Bank in Ohio, which had […]