briefs

British adventurer David Hempleman-Adams may have set an altitude record Tuesday in Colorado when he reached 42,000 feet in his open-basket Roziere balloon, a hybrid gas/hot-air design, but in the process he ran into some flak from the FAA. It seems that although Hempleman-Adams maintained radio contact with ATC during the flight, the FAA says […]

The Brits just can’t get over their love affair with the late great Concorde, and now they are looking forward to a final epic journey of one the sleek birds, bound for the National Museums of Scotland (NMS). The NMS announced on Monday its plan to transport G-BOAA, the first-ever Concorde to enter service, from […]

While some older, neglected airports may be getting a second look from their communities, the challenge of finding a site for a new airport is not getting any easier. In North Carolina, the Navy’s effort to build a landing field in a rural county so its F/A-18 Super Hornet jet pilots can practice carrier landings […]

Sometimes it feels like nobody (except pilots) loves an airport, but in fact plenty of folks out there appreciate that a bustling airfield creates jobs and even enhances quality of life. In Bogalusa, La., the city administration lobbied hard for years to convince not a reluctant public, not reluctant business, but a reluctant FAA that […]

The old debate over the effect of cellphones on airplanes is back in play, as investigators in New Zealand face questions about a fatal accident last June, during which a cellphone was apparently turned on in the cockpit. Eight people died when a Piper Chieftain crashed just over a mile from the runway at Christchurch […]

While analysts predict high jet-fuel prices and weak domestic revenue will further cripple the struggling airline industry this year, at least one airline may be taking aim at general aviation to share its costs. “As the system works today, you, the commercial airline passenger, are subsidizing private aircraft ownership. This is not right.” So claimed […]

https://avweb.com/avmail/ Reader mail this week includes a rebuttal from Atlantic Aviation about the de-ice debacle, airline subsidies for GA, traffic jams at Nantucket and more.

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_______COLUMNS The Pilot’s Lounge #72: PAMA — A Maintenance Organization For Fixers And FlyersIf Rick Durden’s column last month got you nervous about finding a good mechanic, one solution is to look for the professional organization of those mechanics. PAMA supports, advocates, educates, and promotes our unsung heroes of aviation — the Aviation Maintenance Technicians.

Sixty years later, Henry Ford’s dream has been fulfilled … well, sort of. Ford wrote Orville Wright in 1943 reminding him that if he ever wanted to part with the airplane that flew at Kitty Hawk, Ford had just the place for it in Dearborn. Well, the (mostly) original Flyer went to the Smithsonian instead […]