FAA and Regs

The FAA today published a final rule that allows student pilots to log up to 20 hours in flight simulators, finally reaching the end of a long and twisted regulatory path. The current rules allow only 10 hours to be logged, although many flight schools had permission from the FAA to log up to 20. […]

The FAA issued two direct-to-final-rule Airworthiness Directives today that affect general aviation airplanes. A Cessna AD addresses the elevator trim tabs in about 5,000 twin-engine T310Q, 310Q, and 402B aircraft. Textron already has issued a service bulletin, but allows up to a year to make the fix — the FAA said today it is shortening […]

Swift Fuels has signed a deal with global aviation fuel wholesaler Avfuel Corporation to distribute its 94 MON unleaded aviation fuel. The company announced the deal Friday during Sun ‘n Fun and says the deal is “a framework agreement to serve as a template allowing equitable distribution processes amongst the major avgas distributors for Swift […]

The FAA will hold public meetings May 3 and May 4 in Georgia on the proposed rewrite of Part 23 airworthiness standards for normal, utility, acrobatic and commuter category aircraft. The meetings will be held from 8 a.m. to no later than 5 p.m. on each day at the International Convention Center in College Park, […]

It had been a fun morning. The heater had broken in the TRACON radar room. It was 20 degrees outside, not much better inside, and the hot chocolate I was drinking was losing its steam—literally. On top of that, busy last-minute holiday traffic had been giving our morning skeleton crew a kick in the teeth. […]

The FAA’s rules currently forbid any operator to fly a drone above people, but the FAA now is reviewing that decision, based on a report (PDF) and recommendations from an aviation rulemaking committee. The ARC’s consensus report, submitted last Friday, recommends establishing four small UAS categories, with the risk level to people defined primarily by […]

As expected, EAA and Dynon Avionics announced Wednesday morning at Sun ‘n Fun that working with the FAA, they’ve developed an AML-STC that will allow Dynon’s D10 EFIS to be installed in certified aircraft. Initially, the STC covers Cessna 150s and 172s and the Piper PA-28/38 series, but in making the announcement, EAA Chairman Jack […]

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the biggest story here at Sun ‘n Fun this week was one we didn’t even expect: EAA’s announcement that it has partnered with Dynon Avionics to bring less expensive, non-certified avionics to the cockpits of certified aircraft. The first AML-STC list is modest: Cessna 172s and Piper’s PA-28 and […]

The rules that determine how airplanes are certified are changing. Tom Peghiny, president of Flight Design USA, talks with AVweb’s Mary Grady about the impact. Duration: 5:16 File Size: 7.2 MB download here

New FAA rules affecting how student pilots are certified took effect today. The new rules require all applicants to be vetted through the FAA’s Airmen Certification Branch, a process the FAA says will take about three weeks. Currently, the FAA completes the same vetting process, but not until after a student certificate has been issued, […]