FAA and Regs

Once again, it’s the season to talk about fixing the FAA, this time by moving the air traffic function out of the agency and into a separate agency or a privatized corporation of some sort. As we reported, Rep. John Mica has introduced a billin the House of Representatives that would turn ATC into an […]

The FAA is exploring the idea, and the small airplane groups are gathering the information. AVweb’s Russ Niles spoke with Dan Johnson of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) at Sun ‘n Fun 2015. Duration: 5:35 File Size: 5.1 MB download here

It’s hard to compete with regulatory change for a topic that’s slow-moving, complex, and sleep-inducing, but GAMA’s European rep Greg Bowles is excited about the progress happening now, which he says will have real impacts on aircraft owners, buyers, and manufacturers around the world within the next few years. He talked with AVweb’s Mary Grady […]

Ahead of the 2015 Aircraft Electronics Association trade show, we reached out to AEA president Paula Derks for her show forecast. She answered a few questions about the ADS-B mandate and what FAA nextgen specialist Mike Whitaker may have to say at the show, as well as hinting at some of the product announcements in […]

AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli spoke with Tim Taylor of FreeFlight Systems about the company’s EquipIt 2020 initiative, which aims to provide low-cost equipage options to meet the FAA’s coming ADS-B mandate. With the Aircraft Electronics Association show going on now in Dallas, Taylor explained the logistics of FreeFlight’s RANGR Lite system, encouraged owner-pilots to equip sooner […]

Amazon, which is developing drones to make package deliveries, received its long-awaited experimental airworthiness certificatefrom the FAAon Thursday. The approval allows Amazon to test its unmanned aerial systems in the U.S. while proposed commercial drone regulations await the rulemaking process. The certificate, requested by Amazon in July, allows the company to make flights no higher […]

FreeFlight Systems is expanding its line of radar altimeters for rotorcraft, announcing on Wednesday the FRA-5500 system for transport-category helicopters. The system is similar to its RA-4000 series of radar altimeters, certified for Part 29 rotorcraft to comply with equipment mandates related to a 2014 FAA rule that targets helicopter air ambulance operations. FreeFlight says […]

The Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2, which would broaden third-class medical exemptions and expand legal rights, began its journey through the legislative assembly line this week as GA Caucus members in the U.S. Senate and House introduced companion bills. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., introduced S. 571 as an expansion of his legislation that was signed […]

Letter of the Week:Drones No Danger I’m a commercial pilot and small drone operator and want to thank you for not joining the unfounded media hysteria over small UAV operation in the U.S. Regarding the “numerous” drone sightings reported by pilots as tabulated by the FAA, I’ve examined them, and the most frequently used words […]

Last Sunday’s Cirrus ditching off Hawaii was so well documented via video that it has raised some interesting questions about how the CAPS system performed. Not the least of these was that seemingly interminable nosedown moment after the initial deployment. Did that take longer than it was supposed to? Not really, according to Boris Popov […]