briefs

This centennial year had its share of hits and misses, in efforts to draw public attention — and funding — to the world of aviation. One event that had mixed results was the Festival of Flight, held last May in Fayetteville, N.C. The event’s organizers met on Monday to try to agree on a plan […]

Mike Pohl, of St. Louis Park, Minn. — living the small-business-owner’s version of the American Dream — recently took his little flight-simulator company from a strip-mall storefront, where he sells $39.95 gift certificates for an hour of dogfights, to a six-figure contract with aerospace heavyweight Lockheed Martin. Pohl’s customers line up to “fly” in the […]

The contract extension that recently took effect between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) includes a change that for the first time links pay to performance. The incentive-pay provision sets as its goals reductions in runway incursions and controller errors, and increased arrival efficiency rates and on-time performance for airlines. If […]

While Boeing has taken a beating over the last couple years from its archrival Airbus, this week’s announcement of its 7E7 Dreamliner launch offers somewhat of a silver lining on the manufacturer’s ominous storm cloud. On Tuesday, the beleaguered aerospace giant officially announced the start of the sales and marketing effort for its new 7E7 […]

Breaking its long silence about its clandestine jet program, Honda Motor Co. on Tuesday announced a flight-test schedule for its new composite-structure six-seater, but stopped short of saying it will develop the airplane for the commercial market. After all, why would the market want Honda’s HF118 engines that are 40 percent more efficient than conventional […]

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_______COLUMNS As the Beacon Turns #71: What Price Value? There is an endless tug-of-war in aviation — from airlines to the independent flight instructor and everything in-between — when trying to charge enough for services to stay solvent but keep the price attractive to consumers. AVweb’s Michael Maya Charles thinks we’re doing ourselves and our […]

https://avweb.com/avmail/ Reader mail this week about the pilot stuck in Antarctica, airport closures in Florida and Denver and more.

In Italy last week, a race car and a fighter jet re-created a classic competition — wheels vs. wings. The match was held in commemoration of a 1931 race between an Alfa Romeo and a Caproni 100 biplane in Rome. In last week’s three races, on wet pavement under rainy skies, Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2003-GA […]

Australian pilot Jon Johanson, who was stranded last week at Antarctica’s McMurdo Station when he was unable to refuel, left Antarctica Sunday, thanks to some help from a fellow aviation adventurer. British pilot Polly Vacher had stored a cache of fuel at McMurdo for her round-the-world flight in her Piper Dakota, but ran into logistical […]