briefs

Some Air Force fighters that might have been fleeing Hurricane Isabel apparently narrowly missed a disaster of a different sort last Wednesday. An American Airlines airliner on its way to St. Louis from Oklahoma City dove to avoid a flight of three or four military aircraft near Tulsa, according to airline spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross. “The […]

The Wright Brothers went to Kitty Hawk for the wind but they would have been blown away by conditions last week. The historic site of the first powered, sustained flight escaped undamaged when Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the Outer Banks. “There’s a little bit of standing water. We fared well,” National Parks Service spokeswoman […]

_____________________________ AVweb’s AVscoop Award… Congratulations and an AVweb hat go out to Tony Molina, this week’s AVscoop winner. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. Rules and information are at https://avweb.com/contact/newstips.html. _______COLUMNS Say Again? #28: ATC 203 — IFR Flight PlanEverybody who flies a flight IFR has to file a flight plan. Even if it’s […]

The Australian and British governments arent taking any chances with cellphones on airliners. The Aussie Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has published an article calling for restricted use of cellphones aboard airliners after tests in England determined cellphones caused compass freeze, navigational instrument errors, communication interference and false warning reports. In the latest edition of […]

While many engineers have spent countless hours and dollars trying to design the next propulsion system, a South Carolina teenager has worked with the basics — namely a paper airplane and a lot of creativity — to come up with some ideas of his own. Apparently, its paid off, as Hilton Head High School sophomore […]

On September 2, 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all aboard. Now, four years later, the FAA has yet to act on recommendations by Canadas Transportation Safety Board (TSB) and the NTSB to increase the length of time flight data and cockpit voice recorders gather data. The Canadian agency also wants […]

Philadelphia may be home to several historic treasures, but aviation will be the main draw next month. The city is playing host to a couple of major aviation events that will surely draw in thousands of enthusiasts. The Franklin Air Show, The Franklin Institute’s newest exhibit on aviation, opens to the public Oct. 18 after […]

Raytheon Aircraft Co., which may or may not be for sale, has come under the Security and Exchange Commissions microscope lately, likely compounding the headaches it’s already enduring in the soft post-9/11 economy. In January, the SEC began to look into how Raytheon Aircraft recognized revenues from 1997 to 2001. The investigation specifically focused on […]

Shortly after 3:15 p.m. yesterday, an U.S. Air Force Thunderbird was lost during a flight display at an air show in Idaho. Early reports say the pilot ejected safely, but his F-16 was dramatically destroyed in front of a crowd of thousands when it crashed on airport grounds at the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at […]

_______COLUMNS Pelican’s Perch #73: Hurricane (Part 1)It still gets less press than its more-famous compatriot, the Spitfire, but the Hawker Hurricane was the mainstay of the British fighter squadrons in the European theater of World War II. AVweb’s John Deakin considers it one of his favorites, and his two-part pilot report begins this month. ___________________________________________________________________ […]