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Bolen is no stranger to the GA world, and his selection to head the NBAA brought a positive response from AOPA. AOPA prez Phil Boyer told AVweb that he’s worked closely with Bolen for years, and thinks the NBAA made a good choice. “Ed’s Capitol Hill staff experience and his background representing the general aviation […]

As the NBAA wraps up its search effort, GAMA must ramp up to find a replacement for Bolen. (Maybe the NBAA can FedEx them those 49 other resumes they have on file.) For now, Ron Swanda, GAMA’s senior vice president of operations, will manage the association’s day-to-day affairs. Bolen had been with GAMA since 1995, […]

GAMA’s Ed Bolen To Take Top Job… The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced on Thursday that it has chosen Ed Bolen as its new president and CEO. Bolen currently is president and CEO of the General Aviation and Manufacturers Association (GAMA). “Ed is held in high regard by leaders across the political spectrum for […]

Many aircraft that have been flying as factory-builts for years overseas — such as the Flightstar CT in Europe and some Jabiru models in Australia — meet the LSA criteria, and the procedure for them to get LSA-certified is fairly straightforward, as long as they are already certified in their home country. Foreign-built aircraft have […]

So will they or won’t they? “I expect that multiple manufacturers will choose to enter this market,” Paul Fiduccia, president of the Small Aircraft Manufacturers Association, told AVweb on Saturday. “Many manufacturers will be reviewing the rule and the final ASTM standard, when it comes out, and they will be evaluating their aircraft for manufacturability, […]

Dozens Of Potential LSAs Ready To Fly… When the brand-new and infinitely complex Sport Pilot rules debuted with lots of fanfare at Oshkosh late last month, the frequent reaction on the ground was, well, we’ll wait and see. But EAA, having invested years of time and effort, isn’t waiting — they are up to their […]

At the other end of the spectrum are a couple of systems being developed by NASA and the military that (we hope) will trickle down to GA in the future. Gulfstream, which became the first GA manufacturer to certify an enhanced vision system to give aircraft lower ILS numbers (so to speak), is partnering with […]

We can’t help but wonder, then, when accessible, affordable and justifiable synthetic-vision systems will become the show watchword. Chelton introduced the first GA-oriented synthetic-vision system at last year’s show but it’s still a little pricey ($75,000) for most owner-pilots. In fact, it seems like GA applications of new technology such as synthetic vision are caught […]

“All” Manufacturers Now Offer Them… Whether by coincidence or design, a loose theme usually develops at EAA AirVenture (unrelated to the stated theme hung on the show by its organizers) and this was the year of the glass panel. Most major piston single and twin manufacturers had something to say about glass cockpits at this […]

If you think there is nothing new under the sun in air racing, time to think again. Red Bull (the energy drink) is putting some new fizz in the fun. The company has announced the debut of the new Red Bull Air Race — a race combining low and fast racing with aerobatic manuevers — […]