briefs

https://avweb.com/avmail/ Reader mail this week about Florida hurricanes, NBC terrorists, and more.

_______COLUMNS As the Beacon Turns #80: I’ve Seen the LightNowadays, AVweb’s Michael Maya Charles flies with a glass cockpit. At least that’s what he does when he flies for the airline. Now he’s had a chance to try out glass cockpits in the small, single-engine planes that are his off-duty passion, and he’s hooked.

Diamond’s DA-42 TwinStar continues to turn in remarkable performance and fuel-consumption numbers, according to Diamond. The company says the diesel-powered twin (the same plane that was at AirVenture) averaged a fuel burn of just 5.74 gph (2.87 per side) on a flight from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Porto, Portugal, on Aug. 16. Despite the low […]

It turns out Sen. Edward Kennedy is not alone among congressmen who get wrung through a security wringer when they fly. Nine-term congressman and well-known civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) told CNN he’s been detained by the Transportation Security Administration 35 to 40 times in the past year. His and Kennedy’s names are […]

Small-aircraft owners and the businesses who service them say they are being unfairly pushed out of a California airport so more jets can move in. The fracas has erupted at Carlsbad’s McClellan-Palomar Airport over developer Palomar Airport Center’s plan for a $30 million upgrade of part of the airport. The $30 million may not be […]

Wittman Regional Airport is writing the rule book when it comes to accommodating the predicted “influx” of aircraft that will fall under the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category. Oshkosh’s municipal airport, home to EAA’s annual AirVenture, will be the first to formalize standards and procedures for the aircraft and the businesses that will service them. […]

As the noise level decreases in Wyoming, those along the Canadian border can expect the volume to increase. The Department of Homeland Security has decided (three years later) that the world’s longest undefended border bears substantially closer scrutiny in the post-9/11 era. The Bellingham (Washington) Air Marine Branch, the first of five such facilities, was […]

It appears not even the security concerns of the vice president can supplant the sanctity of national parks. Cheney and those who protect him have apparently heard the complaints of others who enjoy the relatively unspoiled pleasures of Grand Teton National Park and reduced the “obnoxious” evidence of their comings and goings at Cheney’s nearby […]

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP yet for AVwebs NO-COST twice monthly Business AVflash? Reporting on breaking news, Business AVflash also focuses on the companies, the products and the industry leaders that make headlines in the Business of Aviation. Business AVflash is a must read. Watch for a Business AVflash regular feature, TSA WATCH: GA IN THE […]

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