briefs

When the FAA published its proposed Air Tour Safety rule back in 2003, it was met with just about universal opposition from the aviation community. Comments and hearings went on through 2004, and since then, the FAA has quietly been working on its final version of the rule. EAA has been carefully watching the progress […]

Cirrus Design Corp. hit a new record for aircraft orders in the third quarter, the company announced on Monday. As reported in the General Aviation Manufacturers (GAMA) third-quarter report, Cirrus has sold 529 airplanes so far this year. The company credits the creation of a worldwide sales network for the increase. International orders accounted for […]

AOPA on Monday reported that wording contained in a June 6 letter from the FAA’s Eastern Region counsel attempting to clarify the legal interpretation of “known icing conditions,” would, if literally applied, “unnecessarily ground many safe general aviation flights” this winter. A sentence in the counsel’s letter reads, “Reduced to basic terms, known icing conditions […]

The potential for a new vintage aircraft museum housed at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport has all but evaporated after Councilman Dave Siebert (the project’s main proponent) withdrew the motion from the City Council agenda. Mayor Phil Gordon told Tucson’s KVOA news that Siebert withdrew the item to defuse division between veterans and arts groups, […]

AVMAIL AVmail: Nov. 27, 2006Reader mail this week about single-engine IMC, quality of FSS and more.

COLUMNS Probable Cause #20: Switching TanksIt’s an article of faith that major maintenance work isn’t complete until a full test of all components and systems can be made. Here’s why.

A Colombian man living in the U.S. was refused permission to enter Canada when he tried to cross the border earlier this month. So he rented a Piper Cherokee in Illinois, flew across the border, landed at Windsor Airport in Ontario and claimed to be a refugee. Officials wouldn’t release many details about the case, […]

Ellen Dixon, of Brentwood, Calif., survived the helicopter crash that killed her husband, David, at a Livermore air show 11 years ago. She won a lawsuit against the helicopter company — the pilot had run out of gas — but there was little money there to collect. She also won a suit against the city, […]

Most pilots know somebody who’s shown an interest in learning to fly “someday,” and you can help bring that day closer with the gift of a Project Pilot introductory flight. AOPA’s new learn-to-fly initiative has an online database of over 3,500 flight schools, many offering first flights for $49 to $89. The Web site also […]

Two North American college students will get a chance to intern at EADS Socata in France next summer, under a new program developed by Socata and EAA. The students, who must be juniors or seniors pursuing an aviation career, will spend five weeks in France. They’ll visit several Socata factories and tour the Paris Air […]