briefs

New Piper and its union workers agreed on a contract Thursday night after almost two years of negotiations, averting a strike vote. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents 729 of the company’s 920 employees. “We’ve tallied the vote and 68 percent approved,” union spokesman Bob Wood told TCPalm.com. “We were pretty confident […]

Four more airports have been added to the Military Airport Program, the Department of Transportation said last week. The program provides federal funds to improve facilities at ex-military fields to attract more civilian aviation activity. The new airports are Williams Gateway Airport, Mesa, Ariz.; Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Fla.; Guam International Airport, Agana, Guam; and Rickenbacker […]

A Cirrus SR22 pilot escaped from his airplane after deploying the ballistic chute and landing in a cove near a nuclear power plant off New York’s Hudson River on Thursday afternoon. Ilan Reich, 50, had been flying westbound when he issued a mayday and then pulled the chute, according to local news reports. Cirrus Design […]

The Vickers Vimy biplane landed safely in Ireland yesterday at about 5 p.m. local time, after crossing the North Atlantic nonstop, following the route flown in 1919 by the British team of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown. As planned, pilots Steve Fossett and Mark Rebhol landed on a golf course in Clifden, Ireland. The flight […]

CAREERS Violation!Everybody makes mistakes. But not every pilot makes a mistake that gets noticed by the FAA. If you do, does that mean your resume drops to the bottom of the stack at your dream airline? That all depends … _________DATABASES What’s New — Products and ServicesThis month AVweb’s survey of the latest products and […]

When the staff at Discovery Channel’s “Monster House” set out to remodel a home for an aviation-oriented family, they didn’t attach wings to it … but they did the next-best thing, planting half a 727 in the backyard. The “Airplane House,” in Simi Valley, Calif., also incorporates 100 airplane parts in the interior dcor, including […]

If you’re in the market for a new light-sport aircraft (LSA), the choices are proliferating practically by the day. Last week, Spectrum Aircraft of Florida announced it will bring to the market two new single-engine LSAs from designs that were previously sold as kits. The Aeroprakt A-20 “Vista Cruiser” and A-22 “Varlet” subassemblies will be […]

A documentary film about Van Nuys Airport, in California, “One Six Right,” held its world premiere last Saturday night in Hollywood. “We had about 900 people in the theater, and the response was overwhelmingly positive,” filmmaker Brian Terwilliger told AVweb yesterday. The high-definition film aims to inspire people, he said. “I want it to give […]

Can you take a classic light-airplane design, update it with a new glass cockpit and other high-tech tweaks, and find a market for it? Some observers thought it a risky venture, but it’s proving to pay off for Mooney Airplane Co. In response to high demand for its new Ovation2 GX and Bravo GX airplanes, […]

The FAA has published a “Notice to All Concerned” about the U.S. Navy’s proposal to expand Military Operations Area and Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace in central California. The FAA notice aims to determine the effects the proposed changes would have upon the safe and efficient use of the airspace by all users. The proposal […]