briefs

Workers at 58 Flight Service Stations in the continental U.S. should find out this week who will run their operation in the future. The FAA will choose from five contenders who bid on the outsourcing contract. “No matter who wins, there will be changes,” AOPA said last week, in a news release. “Many automated flight […]

___________BRAINTEASERS Quiz #90 — Decode VIP, AP, LOMFrom the edge of outer space to the low-life missed approach environment, all pilots should be able to spit out obscure aviation terminology and know how to apply the info for safer flight.

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If you’re tired of waiting for a flying car, a London company is already at work on the next big thing — a jet taxi that can zip passengers in and out of city centers faster and quieter than a helicopter. Avcen, based in London, is developing what it calls a “Very Quiet Short Takeoff […]

A change to the way gasoline is sold in Montana could have ramifications for pilots everywhere who use auto fuel, EAA said yesterday. Legislation pending in the Montana legislature mandates that all gasoline sold to consumers for use in motor vehicles must contain 10 percent denatured ethanol. Many aircraft cannot operate safely on fuel blended […]

It would cost $11 billion to equip the 6,800 airliners in the U.S. fleet with systems to guard against attacks from shoulder-fired missiles, according to a Rand Corporation study issued Tuesday. Operating the system would cost an additional $2.1 billion per year. And the laser systems now in use on military aircraft are too unreliable, […]

If you live in Florida, keep an eye on your airplane … according to the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute (ACPI), that state leads the nation by far in numbers of burglaries from aircraft in 2004. “All late-model Bendix/King and Garmin units are the preferred choice of thieves,” says Robert Collins, president of ACPI. “GPS units […]

The success of the X Prize competition has spawned a new wave of efforts to launch private spaceships and build spaceports — so many that the field is starting to sort out into various subgroups. Most active are the companies we told you about on Monday, who are trying to launch manned ships into space […]

Eight brand-new Sport Pilot Examiners were certified by the FAA last Saturday in Sebring, Fla., at the conclusion of the first-ever Sport Pilot Examiner/Sport Pilot Flight Instructor Examiner course. The examiners spent a busy week, studying the new regulations and practical test standards, taking flight tests and perusing the new examiner handbook. “They are a […]