Flight Schools

While there are certainly arguments about how many pilots will be needed and when, stats like those presented in Boeing’s last Pilot & Technician Outlook, which estimates that 635,000 commercial aviation pilots will be needed in the next ten years, have caught the attention of the airline industry. So much so that the last five […]

In 2012, I won the grand prize during AirVenture: a fully restored 1941 Piper Cub. I was, of course, surprised, given that there were 865,000 entries that year. It was an honest, original Cub with no electrical system and a 65-HP Continental that cannot be modified with a starter. (Well, it can, but it involves […]

Failure of the nose-strut O-ring seal on many Cessnas is just so familiar. According to McFarlane Aviation Products, one key cause is a rolling deformation of the rubber O-ring on the chrome strut shaft. Enough twisting and the O-ring begins to tear. Instead of a conventional circular cross section, the PMA seal has an X […]

The Sling Pilot Academyis set to induct the first round of students this week to its Accelerated Airline Pilot Program based at the Torrance airport in Southern California. The school has also announced a $20,000 scholarshipto be offered to one student who applies before Aug. 5, 2019. Using the S-LSA Sling 2 as the initial […]

Universal Helicopters (UHI) announced a purchase agreement with Tecnam for ten new aircraft on Monday. The order includes four P2008 LSAs, four P2010s and two P2006T twins. The aircraft will be headed to two fixed-wing training locations operated by UHI sister company Universal Fixed-Wing (UFW). According to the company, the P2008 LSAs will be used […]

After months of production delays, Icon Aircraft is ramping up production of its A5 light sport amphibious aircraft. Showing a demo model at the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring this week, Icon’s Scott Rodenback said in this exclusive podcast that about 90 airplanes have been built. The company says some 1300 are on backorder. Rodenback […]

Veteran FBO and flight school operator Lou Mancuso has opened a new flight academy at Sebring, Florida, that he says will provide fast-track training for pilots planning professional flight careers. In this exclusive podcast recorded at the Sport Aviation Expo 2019 show in Sebring, Mancuso said the school will rely on light sport aircraft, specifically […]

In the airline and military realm, fly-by-wire control has become old hat but because of expense and certification complexity, the technology hasn’t trickled down to light aircraft general aviation. Some in the industry, however, believe that digital control architecture and the enhanced stability it can offer might make airplanes easier to fly and would thus […]

As the government shutdown grinds on with no end in sight, calls from the aviation industry to restore funding are getting more strident and the system is starting to show some strain. Possibly the biggest concern is the furloughing of 3,000 “safety specialists,” who support air traffic control functions. Another concern is that virtually all […]

The looming pilot shortage has been discussed ad nauseum. It’s here. Some airlines have cancelled flights for lack of qualified pilots. Airlines are offering programs to enable young people to go from zero hours to the right seat. Many solutions have been proposed including salary increases, lowering the number of hours required and so on, […]