briefs

_______COLUMNS Motor Head #4: Bad ReputationsIn the tight-knit world of aviation, reputations can be made or broken with just a few comments about reliability or difficulty. Certain planes — and engines — have developed reputations that AVweb’s Marc Cook says are undeserved. ____________NEWS FEATURES 2004 Year In ReviewAviation’s second hundred years began in 2004, and […]

The FAA’s implementation of the Sport Pilot rule will make some advances this month. The very first Sport Pilot Designated Pilot Examiner qualification course will be held Jan. 17-22 in Sebring, Fla. Four more courses will be held from February to May in Sebring, and seven more are scheduled from June to October in Oklahoma […]

2004 was a rough year for most of the major U.S. airlines, and that meant it was a rough year for Boeing as well. The airlines have not been buying, and China announced last week that it won’t be needing any new airplanes in 2005. But the plane-maker got a bit of a boost last […]

The FBI is investigating several incidents of lasers shining into the cockpits of airplanes on approach to U.S. airports in the last week. Pilots of six commercial airliners, a police helicopter and a Cessna Citation described seeing beams of green light in the cockpit that originated on the ground. On Saturday, authorities questioned a New […]

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confirmed last week that it will expand its Transportation Security Administration Access Certificate (TSAAC) program, which grants increased access to airspace and airports for Part 91 business aviation operators who meet TSA security standards. The concept was tested with 24 operators at Teterboro, N.J.; White Plains, N.Y.; and Morristown, N.J. […]

In a demonstration flight last month in the Idaho desert, a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carrying a video camera showed that it could help firefighters track the movement of forest fires. “I thought this was possible for a long time,” said Everett Hinkley, of the U.S. Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center. “This technology […]

A Cirrus SR22 being ferried across the Atlantic ran out of fuel and sputtered to a stop just seconds after landing at Shannon Airport in Ireland late on Friday, The Canadian Press reported Saturday. The safe landing was “a great miracle story at the end of 2004,” as well as a feat of airmanship, Royal […]

_________INSURANCE Neither A Lender Nor A Borrower Be … Non-Owner Pilots And Liability InsuranceIf you borrow a friend’s car, you’re covered by their car insurance. But if you borrow their plane, you are probably not covered by their aircraft liability insurance. Same if you rent a plane from an FBO. Are you prepared to pay […]

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