leadnews

It certainly will let you see the big rain out ahead of you, but the WSI announcement took a bit of the glow off Garmin’s announcement that it will offer its own XM-based receiver — the GSL69A — for the MX-20 multifunction display. (Confused yet?) XM includes real-time NEXRAD imagery, METARS, TAFs and TFRs. But […]

Weather Datalink: Break Out The Black Boxes Live weather in the cockpit — and not the kind that appears like measles on a sferics gadget — has long been a must-have for aircraft owners and AirVenture 2004 suggests that it’s becoming increasingly affordable. And it’s also increasingly confusing to sort through all the options, price […]

Once the rule takes effect on September 1: the industry must establish consensus standards for each LSA type (airplane, powered ‘chute, trike, etc.), the FAA must adopt those standards, and the manufacturer must factory-build the aircraft in accordance with those standards, the EAA said. For imported LSAs, the aircraft must be eligible for an airworthiness […]

Dick Koenigsberg, of SkyRanger Aircraft, said that in the first day of Air Venture he talked to more non-pilots than he’s seen at previous shows. That tells him the new rule is generating interest in people who perhaps haven’t considered aviation as a recreational pastime because of the expense and all the licensing requirements. Koenigsberg […]

The “New” Airplanes… Companies planning to sell Light Sport Aircraft don’t seem to be frustrated with the delays already suffered; they seem universally upbeat about the opportunities that may await them. “This is all good,” said Rob Rollison, of Rollison Light Sport Aircraft. He’s has been carting LSA-qualified planes from show to show for the […]

Bright And Breezy Maybe it’s a subtle ticking upward in the economy, or maybe it’s the new sport-pilot rule, or maybe it’s the weather — sunny with a breeze, not too hot, not too humid (for Oshkosh). Whatever the cause, the mood here in Oshkosh is inescapably upbeat, the crowds are thick, the campgrounds are […]

The report also slams the agency for its handling of the crisis itself. It describes the FAA’s communications as being in disarray as the planes started crashing into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. It also suggests that a fourth aircraft, Flight 93, would have reached its intended target of either the White House or […]

Intelligence (The Spy Stuff) Was Considered… The former head of the FAA has defended herself and the agency against allegations in the 9/11 Commission’s final report that she did nothing to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks despite an increasing amount of intelligence traffic. The commission said Jane Garvey didn’t pay “much attention” to her agency’s […]

And, of course, get ready for a torrent of information, seminars and hangar talk about the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule (which, incidentally, will be published in the Federal Register on AirVenture’s opening day, July 27, wink, wink). EAA has been the driving force behind the entirely new class of aircraft and pilot certificate. And, […]

What does a (modified) RV-4 have in common with a B-29? If Bruce Bohannon has his way, they’ll both have held the record for the highest altitude reached by a piston-powered aircraft. Bohannon and his Exxon Flyin’ Tiger are headed for 50,000 feet at this year’s show, trying to beat the 47,910 feet hit by […]