briefs

STARS is brightening the lives of controllers all over the country, and not just in the handful of places AVweb and several other media outlets mentioned in stories last week. The Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System has been installed in 13 airports since the successful full deployment of the system in Philadelphia last June. “We […]

A 19-year-old man, apparently intending to score a free trip aboard a Delta flight from LA to Atlanta last month, successfully bypassed two checkpoints and then successfully boarded an airliner without a ticket. Security cameras showed that he got past the initial checkpoint by going through an unguarded roped-off area, then walked through the metal […]

A modified Gulfstream II flying as a Shuttle Training Aircraft for NASA was 13,000 feet above Florida recently when parts of its thrust reverser went missing and splashed into the Banana River. The reversers are part of a retrofit that helps the GII mimic the Shuttle’s steep descent profile. An astronaut and two pilots were […]

In a nifty new service for pilots, a quick toll-free phone call can now connect you to any AWOS in the U.S. — if you don’t mind having to listen to a short advertisement before you get to the weather. The service, aptly called “anyAWOS,” is a new product offered by Mackinac Software. One of […]

If you haven’t yet had a chance to visit the Smithsonian’s new Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport, in Virginia, now you can view a few historic aircraft and cockpits in detail on the Internet. The cockpits of the Concorde, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the SR-71 Blackbird and more can be viewed in seamless, intricate detail […]

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_______COLUMNS Say Again? #32: ATC 203 — IFR En RouteTime to go back to school with AVweb’s Don Brown. This time, he’s discussing the pitfalls of IFR en route planning, especially short hops and requests for “direct-to.” Get your charts handy and get ready to cruise. _______REVIEWS Telex Airman 850You’ve moved on to heavier iron, […]

Duane Cole, one of the pioneers of modern aerobatic competition and the air shows that give it an audience, has died at the age of 89. Cole died of natural causes at his home in Burleson, Texas. Cole spent his whole life in aerobatics and air shows and wrote nine books on the subject. Wayne […]

Maybe the Martians are upset that we’ve introduced ATVs to their planet or maybe it’s a slow news week. Regardless, there is no shortage of UFO sightings around the world this week. It’s all grist for the mill for the biggest UFO convention of them all, coming up July 1 in Roswell, N.M. Thousands of […]

Last Friday, witnesses claimed to have watched a plane, possibly a Beech 1900, fall into the ocean. But since none of the air carriers operating in the area have reported any of their planes missing, air traffic controllers didn’t have anything on their scopes and searchers haven’t found any wreckage, a search has been called […]