briefs

If you’re airplane’s props were serviced by T and W Propellers, of Chino, Calif., they may need doing again and the sooner the better. An Airworthiness Directive has been issued essentially ordering a recall of certain props certified and returned to service by the company. The AD follows investigation of a prop failure on a […]

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority has issued an urgent Airworthiness Directive (AD) for Robinson R22 helicopters after a failed rotor blade caused a fatal accident June 20. The AD requires visual and eddy current inspections of the blades and a special vibration warning placard in the cockpit. The FAA usually follows suit with emergency ADs […]

A potential blast from the past interrupted the massive expansion of Diamond Aircraft’s European headquarters last week. Employees were evacuated when workers digging the foundation of the new 100,000-square-foot composite facility unearthed a couple of unexploded World War II bombs. Diamond’s factory, at Wiener-Neustadt Airport in Austria, was the site of a Messershmitt ME 109 […]

What some might consider the ultimate military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is on the Pentagon’s drawing board. The Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV) will be able to strike anywhere in the world within two hours of a launch from within the continental United States. It will carry up to 12,000 pounds of munitions and be able […]

Dick and Burt Rutan played gracious hosts to one of the most publicized “surprise” birthday parties ever held June 28. Their Mojave, Calif., Scaled Composites headquarters was descended upon by an estimated 105 Vari Ez and Long Ez homebuilts there to help the brothers celebrate their 60th (Burt) and 65th (Dick) birthdays. The gathering set […]

Mary Ann Stout, of Ormond Beach, Fla., got an unusual phone call last Wednesday morning from her husband, Larry, who was out flying his Experimental biplane, a Marquart MA-5 Charger. He was all right, he told her, but the airplane had crashed into a tree and he was stuck. Mary Ann called 9-1-1 and guided […]

The FAA last week issued a Final Rule regarding certain Hartzell propellers with aluminum blades, revising an existing Airworthiness Directive. Affected aircraft include models from Cessna, Piper, Beech and others (check the list). The new rule permits the replacement of affected propellers with Hartzell model “MV” series propellers as an alternative to the initial and […]

British groups representing more than 4 million people joined on Monday to take a stand against airport expansion, the Guardian reported this week. About 20 groups concerned with conservation and heritage, or that target specific airports such as Gatwick and Heathrow, issued a joint statement that said any further airport developments would seriously damage the […]

Back in 1999, 13 Oregon pilots came up with a plan to build 14 identical replicas of the Nieuport 11, working together as a team. This summer, the whole fleet is finished, and the extra airplane will be auctioned off on eBay sometime in August. The proceeds will be donated to the EAA Willamette Valley […]

The 300-plus private and state-owned companies that comprise Russia’s struggling civilian aircraft industry must merge into a single entity that can compete with Boeing and Airbus, Vice-Premier Boris Alyoshin said last week in Moscow. The industry will draw up a plan this year to detail how it will achieve that goal, Alyoshin told the Associated […]