FAA and Regs

Toyota has filed for patent protection of an unusual flying car design that uses the same drive mechanism for road and the air. According to TransportUp, the “Dual Mode Vehicle With Wheel Rotors” uses the rotor hubs as wheels when the device is on the ground. The rotors fold into the wheel allowing the vehicle […]

A high-ranking FAA source has confirmed that the FAA plans to almost triple the maximum weight for most light sport aircraft to 3600 pounds in rulemaking that will be introduced in January. The source confirmed the scant details of a Facebook post written by AOPA Senior VP of Media and Outreach Tom Haines from the […]

Neither pilot in the cockpit of a Falcon 50 that crashed in Greenville, South Carolina, last week was rated to fly the aircraft as pilot in command, according to the preliminary report issued by the NTSB on Thursday. The report states that the pilot in the left seat “held an ATP certificate with a type […]

A bill to reauthorize the FAA (H.R. 302) was passed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 93 to 6 on Wednesday. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which made it through the House of Representatives last week, now only needs a presidential signature to become law. The legislation has earned praise from many […]

The FAA is investigating an incident in which a police helicopter was used in an effort to disperse a large tailgate party that took place before a Penn State vs. Ohio State football game at Penn State University’s Beaver Stadium last weekend. As shown in the video below, a Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) helicopter flew […]

The FAA on Monday issued a new Airworthiness Directive that affects about 1,800 Boeing 737 aircraft operated in the U.S. The AD requires additional inspections of the fan blades in all the airplanes equipped with the same type of blades that caused a catastrophic engine failure in April, when one passenger died on a Southwest […]

The 411 On 406s Mr Nelson’s description of the ELT technology, be it 121.5 or 406, is fairly accurate. The application of this technology in the real world is not quite up to par. The ELT as we know it is based on antiquated 1950’s concepts with numerous single points of failure incorporated in the […]

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R. 302 Division B) was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 398 to 23 on Wednesday. The bill will authorize FAA funding and programs until 2023. If it also passes the Senate, which has to happen before it can be signed into law, it […]

Yet another eVTOL company has announced it is in flight trials with the intention of upending the urban transportation market and Astro Aerospace, of Dallas, isn’t shy about the Jetson analogies. Not only is the company named after the 1960s cartoon family of the future’s dog, its prototype autonomous passenger carrying drone is called Elroy […]

Scattered among accident reports is the occasional hand prop attempt that goes wrong but not many concern high-performance aircraft. The accompanying video illustrates that it is indeed possible to spark up a Cirrus SR22’s IO-550 from the front but it needs to be done with an abundance of forethought and caution. It’s not clear who […]