Flight Safety

Vashon Aircraft has delivered 12 of its Ranger Light Sport training aircraft and CEO and founder John Torode said the planes have gone to a mix of customers, many of whom will use it as a personal aircraft. Torode, who also founded Dynon Avionics, said that while the aircraft has had some traction as a […]

Boeing’s MCAS stall-protection system was at fault in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 on March 10, according to a preliminary report released early Thursday. An earlier report showed that the aircraft’s flight data recorder revealed that the crew initially followed procedures Boeing recommended to disable the system, but then inexplicably […]

If Boeing wanted bad press for itself, it couldn’t have done any better than the unfolding drama of two hull losses of the 737 MAX 8 within five months and the slow drip of daily coverage on what crash investigators are learning. Overall, I give the daily press a B+ for its coverage. It has […]

Last year Vashon Aircraft set out to revolutionize the Light Sport market with an under-$100K, all-metal, Continental-powered glass cockpit-equipped airplane that was both easy and fun to fly. To see how that’s been working, AVweb’s Russ Niles caught up with company founder John Torode at Sun ‘n Fun 2019 in Lakeland, Florida. view on YouTube

The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation was founded in 2010 with the idea of finding ways to promote a vibrant general aviation community. Lightspeed Aviation founder and president Allan Schrader discussed the foundation and its recent initiative to support new pilots with AVweb at Sun ‘n Fun 2019. Duration: 4:25 File Size: 4.07 MB download here

Ever since Orville bet Wilbur he could squeeze out ten more feet on those first precarious runs at Kitty Hawk, aviators have been setting—and beating—records in the air. Not content with highest, fastest, longest, today’s aviation records include such obscurities as distance goals for RC aircraft and numbers of skydivers attempting a vertical formation. The […]

CubCrafters has taken the unusual step of certifying its X-Cub in the primary category, even though it’s already certified under Part 23. The primary category is a more restrictive regime that requires most of the Part 23 testing and engineering but limits engine type, weight and performance. CubCrafters officials attending Sun ‘n Fun declined to […]

The pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 that crashed on March 10 appear to have inconsistently applied Boeing recommendations to disable the MCAS stall-protection system. But they failed to recover the aircraft for reasons still unclear. The Wall Street Journal, relying on sources who have seen the flight data recorder readout, reported that […]

The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation announced at Sun ‘n Fun 2019 that it will be providing Lightspeed Zulu 3 headsets to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) Ray Aviation Scholarship recipients. According to EAA, the headsets will be awarded to each scholar upon completion of their first solo flight and ground school requirements. “The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation, […]

Piper opened up Sun ‘n Fun with a bang this week when it announced two new aircraft models, the Piper Pilot 100 and 100i. See the details in Kate O’Connor’s news story and video. These are essentially retools to the venerable Piper PA-28 platform, of which Piper has sold about a gazillion. It’s also a […]