Flight Training

AVweb’s weekly search of the news in the world of aviation turned up some updates in the light airplane sector, as well as an award for Airbus’ electric trainer and a first flight for Bell’s new 505 helicopter. Van’s Aircraft and Dynon have worked to create a dual display option for the popular RV-12 LSA. […]

Almost exactly a year ago, when I fishing around for something provocative to say about Chinese interests buying Mooney, I came up with this nugget: “So personally, I’m okay with the sale of Mooney to a China-based company, but only if it pulls in some investment to get the company to the next stage. Let’s […]

At the risk of getting the metaphorical “hook” for expressing the thought, we are about to engage in herding CATs. Most instrument pilots are lucky and only have to deal with one category of ILS approach during their lives. The Category I, or “CAT I”is usually the only kind of instrument landing system approach minima […]

Barrington Irving of Experience Aviation is on the first leg of a flight around the world in a Hawker jet to help teach school kids about science and technology. He spoke with AVweb’s Mary Grady during a stopover in Australia about the project, the jet, and the expeditions he’s taking part in along the way. […]

Barrington Irving, leader of the nonprofit group Experience Aviation, is more than halfway through a circum-Pacific flight that is bringing the world into classrooms around the country, as seen from a Hawker 400XP jet. “The reason why we’re doing this,” Irving said, in a recent interview with AVweb from his hotel room in Darwin, Australia, […]

At this week’s Redbird Migration conference, I wrote a short straightnews piece quoting the proposed direct operating costs for an electric trainer of about $5 an hour. That number came from George Bye, whose Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. appears poised to bring an electric-powered trainer to market within…well, it’s on the horizon. A couple of […]

While electric aircraft have gotten plenty of gee-whiz press coverage, they lack one thing: credible production airplanes. At Redbird’s Migration training conference this week, Aero Electric Aircraft Corp.’s George Bye pledged to change that by showing up at next year’s event with a prototype of the Sun Flyer, a two-place electric that may become the […]

With a year and 1,300 hours of operation behind them, Redbird says its converted diesel Skyhawks have delivered bulletproof maintenance reliability and significant savings in direct operating costs. At a short briefing during the company’s fourth annual training conference in San Marcos, Texas, Redbird’s Darren Bien told a small group that thus far, customer response […]

As if everything in aviation isn’t hard enough to get done, it’s grimly amusing how we’re able to make it harder yet. Just ask anyone trying to get a simple cert project on the FAA’s agenda, much less getting it approved. Even the stuff that should be simple and quick, isn’t. That came to mind […]

Redbird Simulations opens its fourth annual Migration training conference in San Marcos, Texas, today, with two days of forums and industry discussions about training issues critical to the aviation industry. On the agenda will be a brief review of Redbird’s experience in operating its Redhawk diesel Skyhawk conversion and a progress report on the company’s […]