leadnews

NTSB Says LAX Incident Raises Doubts… The NTSB is accusing the FAA of fudging the numbers when it comes to runway incursions, but FAA chief spokesman Greg Martin told AVweb the charge is “really unfounded.” In its annual “Most Wanted List” of safety improvements, the NTSB suggests the number of incursions are dropping because FAA […]

For the nation’s 88,728 flight instructors, AOPA said it is nevertheless seeking immediate relief from the confusion and burdensome requirements of the existing rule. “There are more than 3,400 flight schools in the United States,” Boyer said in a news release. “Concern and confusion currently reign. Our recent survey indicated only one in 10 schools […]

No Quick Fixes Foreseen… TSA chief David Stone, freshly back in D.C. after a big dose of GA reality from the crowds at AOPA Expo last month, got a bit more of it last Wednesday in the form of a personal visit from AOPA prez Phil Boyer. Boyer and senior AOPA staffers sat down with […]

Thirty-nine people died in general aviation aircraft in October, EAA reported last week. That’s the second-deadliest October in over six years, and should be a “wake-up call” for aviators, EAA said. With winter ahead, and the extra challenges of icing, darkness and marginal weather, pilots need to be extra-vigilant to bring the accident rate down. […]

Sales Are Up For Year So Far… The numbers are showing that the long-hoped-for GA recovery is underway, with industry billings up almost 16 percent in the first nine months of this year, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reported recently. “Recovery of the U.S. economy and accelerated depreciation enacted by Congress for operators of […]

NASA on Friday issued the first official details about its new Centennial Challenges program, a prize competition that NASA says “seeks novel solutions to NASA’s mission challenges from nontraditional sources of innovation in academia, industry and the public.” Listed among the missions the program hopes to advance is general aviation technology, along with a soft […]

Although Rutan’s team held a clear lead over the competition, more than two dozen teams tried for the X Prize, and many are still pursuing their ideas. Some are branching out in new directions or seeking new prizes. Interorbital Systems, a Mojave company that plans to launch from ocean spaceports, is working on two new […]

$10 Million For SpaceShipOne… On Saturday, the Ansari X Prize was handed over to the Mojave Aerospace Ventures team, in a field adjacent to the St. Louis Science Center, as a chase plane flew overhead. SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan accepted the $10 million check, along with a five-foot-tall, 200-pound trophy. Also present for the event […]

Other popular units are running into problems when the hardware continues to work just fine, but software or repair support is discontinued. One example is the Lowrance Airmap 300, a circa-1998-vintage handheld GPS that has been “orphaned” by its manufacturer. A rebate program offers a cash incentive to owners to turn in their units and […]

But while the technology moves forward in leaps and bounds, can pilots — and their avionics providers — keep up? In some cases, the rapid pace of change leaves pilots with functional but outdated equipment — and none too happy about it. “We who have installed [Garmin] GNS 430s and 530s are still waiting on […]