Flight Tracking

Solar Impulse To New York Saturday

Solar Impulse may be racing weather as it takes off on the final leg of its so-far successful flight across the U.S. The solar-powered aircraft, which has flown from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., over the last few months, is scheduled to leave Dulles Airport for JFK in New York early Saturday. Pilot Andre Borschberg […]

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Air Force On Track For iPad-Induced Savings

The Air Force Air Mobility Command last year awarded a contract for up to 18,000 iPads and believes it is on track to see a $50 million cost savings from their intended use once implemented. The contract, a $9.36 million investment, is one step in replacing what amounts to hundreds of pounds of paper documentation […]

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Alaska Integrates GPS In Search And Rescue

A test program in Alaska to integrate the consumer tracking devices Spot and Spidertracks with FAA search-and-rescue has been successful, officials said last week. The Enhanced Special Reporting Service was tested for two years and now has been made an official option for all pilots flying VFR in Alaska. The technology could be a lifesaver […]

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Closure Dates For Towers Posted

Not every air traffic control tower slated for shutdown will stop operating at once, according to an FAA list posted online by AOPA on Monday. The first group of 24 towers will close on April 7, another 46 on April 21, and 79 on May 5. The Lakeland, Fla., tower will remain open until April […]

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FAA Tower Closures By The Numbers

The FAA will close 149 federal contract towers beginning April 7, in response to sequestration’s budget cuts, the agency announced Friday. The newly revised list is online here (PDF). The agency says closures will be phased in over a four-week period. At least 38 states are affected. Florida is one of the nation’s most populous […]

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Tower Decisions Delayed Till Friday

The FAA was expected to announce Monday which control towers will close due to federal budget cuts, but now that announcement has been delayed until Friday, March 22. The FAA plans to eliminate funding for as many as 232 towers, most of them run by contractors, but operators of the affected airports were invited to […]

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Air Charts Stops Atlas Production

Popular aviation charts vendor Air Chart Systems has sent a notice to its subscribers that it’s ceasing publication of the spiral-bound paper atlases that were its signature product for more than 50 years. In a note attached to the March 7 electronic update of en route charts and approach plates, the company suggests it’s out […]

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