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Tsunami Recovery Depends on Airlift “It’s a fever-pitch, adrenaline-rush kind of effort,” for pilots working in the tsunami relief zone, Dennis Fulton, vice-president of operations for the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), told AVweb yesterday. The MAF and its sister organization, MAF-Europe, have three aircraft working in Indonesia — a Caravan, a Cessna 206, and a […]

Another ambitious effort underway to swell the ranks of Sport Pilots is the SP/LSA Blitz, a project of Aero Sports Connection (ASC). ASC is planning weeklong, one-stop camp-out events, where ultralight pilots and instructors can fly in, earn their FAA certificates, and get their aircraft transformed into N-numbered FAA aircraft, all in one stop. The […]

“We want to bring the airplanes right to the people, so they can look and see and touch and feel,” Johnson said. “We’re missing a lot of the pilot community, not to mention the general public, when we ask the people to come to us.” The schedule and locations for the events are in the […]

Plans for EAA Sport Pilot Promotional Tour A national tour to promote light-sport aviation is in the works, with support from EAA and the sport flying community, marketing consultant Dan Johnson told AVweb on Tuesday. “We’re going forward with four locations, then we’ll evaluate and regroup, then plan four more, all in 2005,” Johnson said. […]

Starting Jan. 19, pilots must immediately report any

Kucharek stressed that the lasers being used in the VWS will not damage the eyes or anything else. He told AVweb the lasers (the good ones) are less powerful than the laser pointers (the bad ones) suspected of causing widely reported mischief over the past few weeks. But he also said the “visually conspicuous lights” […]

Showing Errant Pilots the (Really Bright) Light First, recall that shining a laser at an airplane is a felony under the Patriot Act (as New Jersey resident David Banach is finding out the hard way). Now, enter NORAD’s “Visual Warning System” (VWS). As pilots all over the country report being temporarily blinded, as the TSA […]

And while some of those who lose their jobs may eventually find themselves back in the FAA fold, for some it’s the end of the line. In e-mails to AVweb, AFSS workers claim that career counselors are advising them to dust off their resumes and not expect a job with the FAA. According to Dave […]

NAATS Says FAA Plan Flawed The cheers have turned to jeers among National Association of Air Traffic Specialists members as they get to the fine print of a placement plan for some of the automated flight service station (AFSS) workers who may (likely will) lose their jobs to privatization. You see, while AFSS workers would […]

The laser used by Banach had five milliwatts of lasing power, the most allowed without a license. Although potentially harmful to the retina, such lasers aren’t powerful enough to damage much else. Much more powerful hand-held devices are available, however, and the licensing issue is skirted by calling them “laser components” rather than finished products. […]