briefs

Officials at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday cleared 45 aircraft to return to service; the aircraft had been grounded in January and again in April for safety concerns. The Academy says it has resolved all issues about the safety of the fleet. Affected aircraft include: TG-10B\C\D unpowered gliders and […]

Today, the 12th and final public hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (known as the 9-11 Commission) will examine the immediate response to the attacks by the FAA and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). One focus of the hearing is expected to be how the decision was […]

Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. (MASG), the former parent company of Mooney Airplane Co. (MAC), filed last Thursday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Maryland. MASG sold its interest in MAC to an investor earlier this month, so the filing has no impact on the aircraft manufacturer, based in Kerrville, Texas. In court […]

In a first for the annual Air Race Classic, this year’s route will start and finish in the same place. The race will launch from Colonel James Jabara Airport, Wichita, Kan., on June 23, and cover 2,200 nautical miles above Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Missouri, returning to Wichita by June 26. Each aircraft is flown […]

Aeromedical certifying authorities — such as the FAA’s Office of Aviation Medicine — should begin to study and license pilots on anti-depressant medication, the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) said in a position paper published last month. The proposal is “stunning,” says Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) Dr. Brent Blue, who said he has tried for years […]

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Reader mail this week about shooting down drug smugglers, scrambling fighters for a governor, fire-fighting tankers, a pilot’s dog and much more.

_______COLUMNS The Pilot’s Lounge #75: Preflight? Who Cares?Recent AVweb columns have brought the question to the fore: Should a pilot perform a detailed preflight inspection, or is there such a thing as too much information? AVweb’s Rick Durden has a thorough conversation about it this month in The Pilot’s Lounge.

If this keeps up, the float planes will be front and center at this year’s Air Venture. A spell of heavy rain at Wittman Regional Airport has flooded runways and inundated the show grounds that will teem with people and airplanes in about six weeks. AVweb reader Eric Whyte reports that flooding closed the runways […]