briefs

When we recently contacted him to find out how his new two-place kitplane was shaping up, NemesisNXT project leader Jon Sharp told AVweb that behind a stock 350-hp TSIO-550, the airplane “should be very competitive with the guy who won the race at Reno behind 600 hp.” That “guy,” by the way, qualified with a […]

Well, there’s not much argument that airports can be noisy, but city officials in Danbury, Conn., want to find out just how noisy theirs is. The FAA is apparently pretty interested, too, because it’s chipping in $263,000 to help the city measure the noise and figure out land-use planning near the airport. Without the benefit […]

Sen. William H. Frist (R-Tenn.) was elected in an unusual conference call vote on Friday to be the new Senate majority leader. Almost immediately, several of aviation’s “alphabet groups” hailed the election as a win for aviation. “We’re thrilled that someone with Sen. Frist’s piloting credentials, who understands general aviation, will be at the controls […]

Because of the lack of visual references on the water, nighttime seaplane operations can be downright dangerous. Now, a company hopes to change all of that with the introduction of a laser-guided approach tool and surface marking technique. The Anchorage-based Greatland Laser is testing a laser-guidance system to be used on water landing areas used […]

Before running out for a holiday break, some of the big kahunas at the FAA received a Sport Pilot briefing from EAA officials. EAA President Tom Poberezny and EAA’s Washington Representative Doug Macnair met with Nick Sabatini, FAA associate administrator for regulation and certification, and Tony Fazio, director of the office of rulemaking, at FAA […]

While many pilots gave themselves the gift of flight, those navigating around presidential retreats were forced to double-check their charts and flight routes — and NOTAMs. The usual presidential hideouts in Camp David, Md., and Crawford, Texas, served up a couple TFRs to keep unwanted aircraft away. In the Camp David area, the agency pushed […]

The folks at EAA want to remind you of the closing deadline for gifts to charities. The organization says that tax benefits are available for gifts to charities if you make sure to itemize your deductions. EAA also kindly reminds us that gifts to the EAA Aviation Foundation (and many other charities, see above) — […]

The Wichita, Kan., area has seen a dramatic change in the role of one of its leading industries: aerospace. This in turn is directly affecting several charities’ holiday programs in town. Hard hit by aviation layoffs in Wichita, United Way of the Plains is trimming $1 million from its budget, normally used to help 34 […]

One of the most ambitious heritage aircraft projects ever undertaken got some nice thick winter air under its wings Dec. 20. After almost 10 years of technical tinkering (the final months of which were spent mostly in delicate bureaucratic navigation), a serial production representative Me 262 twin-engine jet fighter took off from Paine Field, Wash., […]

As the volume decreases near major airports in the post-9/11 slump, the noise level at major GA airports is going up seemingly in direct proportion to the angry voices opposed to their expansion. And it’s perhaps no coincidence that the airplane noise — and the rhetoric — are loudest in the traditionally near-8,000-flights-per-day New York […]