leadnews

The aircraft in the most recent crash was an early T-34, serial number G-13, and had seen extensive use in mock air combat operations, including a stint with Georgia-based Sky Warriors, before it was acquired by Texas Air Aces. Like virtually the entire fleet of T-34s, it had met one of the alternate means of […]

Spar Cracks Apparently Spreading… The FAA has grounded the entire fleet (about 320 in the U.S.) of Beech A45 and T-34 aircraft after it was discovered that cracks in a location on the wing spar not covered by a previous Airworthiness Directive (AD) led to the crash of a Texas Air Aces T-34 last Tuesday. […]

A similar crash in Georgia in 1999 prompted an Airworthiness Directive (AD) requiring thorough periodic inspections of the wing spars on T-34s. After the AD was issued, several alternative methods of compliance (AMOCs) were approved. After the 2003 crash, the FAA’s preliminary report suggested that the aircraft wasn’t in compliance with the AD, but FAA […]

Wing Snaps On T-34… A Texas air-combat simulation and upset-recovery training center has temporarily suspended operations after losing a second aircraft in just over a year to an apparent wing separation. The Texas Air Aces T-34 went down Tuesday about three miles from where a similar aircraft crashed on Nov. 19, 2003. In both crashes, […]

And in France, there’s nothing like reality training for airport security staff (two-legged and otherwise). French authorities have now banned the practice of security inspectors slipping real plastic explosive into the baggage of unsuspecting passengers to test the abilities of bomb-sniffing dogs. Last Friday, one of the dogs apparently had a head cold or some […]

Michael Magnell doesn’t ever have any trouble getting himself on an airplane but his luggage is a different story. Magnell is a ferry pilot and owns a California company that specializes in long-distance and over-water delivery of private aircraft to far-flung destinations. When he heads to a distant locale to pick up a plane, he […]

TSA’s Reach Exceeds Its Grasp… When Heinz Johner returned to his native Switzerland after living in the U.S. for several years, he brought something of fairly unique value with him. Now, thanks to the Transportation Safety Administration’s new alien flight training rule, that hard-won CFI certificate is practically useless, unless he moves back to the […]

The union representing the FSS staff, the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS), is opposed to the bidding process. “Flight Service Controller duties will be sold to the lowest bidder with no system announced as of yet to monitor safety and security,” says the NAATS Web site. NAATS has also disputed the FAA’s contention […]

Lengthy Process Nearing Decision Time… FAA Administrator Marion Blakey was at a Flight Service Station in Mississippi last week, to talk with the staff about the current bidding process that could change federal employees to contract workers. “It’s going to be a challenging time,” Blakey told the Greenwood (Miss.) Commonwealth. “We don’t know whether it […]

The engine by itself is of very little value without firewall-forward support, Nearhoof said. Innodyn had been working with Rivers Aeronautical, of Greenville, S.C., to develop firewall-forward kits, but announced last month that it will provide that support in-house instead. “Innodyn believes that they can supply the kits to the consumer at a more affordable […]