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Consider that an Evergreen Supertanker will carry in one load what it would take seven other firefighting planes to haul, and it will be able to get to the fire clipping along at Mach .86 (near 600 mph). Each Supertanker will carry 24,000 gallons of flame retardant, which weighs 9 pounds per gallon. That’s 216,000 […]

Evergreen International Decides To Supersize… By July 4 of this year, Evergreen International Aviation hopes to gain independence from firefighting the old-fashioned way. The McMinnville, Oregon-based company is working with the FAA to obtain certification for Evergreen “Supertankers”) — retrofit Boeing 747s capable of carrying 24,000 gallons of fire retardant each. Supertanker spokesman Justin Marchand […]

Aero Advantage is NOT included in this warning, but our friendly feds continue to caution that there are a whole lot of unapproved parts floating around in the airplane universe. They range from engines to altimeters to just improper maintenance. If you suspect you might have gotten hold of a part that is not all […]

3% Failure Rate “Too High”… Aero Advantage of Granbury, Texas, has stopped production and closed its doors after the discovery that both pumps in its Dual Rotor Vacuum Pump can — and have — failed simultaneously. According to a notice posted on the Aero Advantage Web site, company President David Boldenow says the failures are […]

While the TSA haggles with that pesky due process, pilots are still trying to keep their noses clean and their tickets clear by staying away from the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) warning areas. Those moving plots of no-pilot’s-airspace seem to be popping up all too frequently (and even more often as the presidential campaign wears […]

Pilot (In)Security Rules Go Back For A Rewrite… In January 2004, the FAA told AVweb a third-party appeal process (to an Administrative Law Judge) had been implemented, but now the entire rule that granted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) the right to pull your certificate has been suspended, AOPA says. … Suspended until the TSA […]

Most significant with the new procedure, Schallhorn said, is the improved quality of vision, fewer problems with halos and glare, better night vision and higher patient satisfaction. With conventional Lasik, 88 percent of 908 patients tested at 20/20 vision or better six months after the procedure. By comparison, 97 percent of 34 patients using the […]

Sharper Vision, Fewer Problems With New Technology… A Navy researcher who has been studying the effects of eye surgery on vision for 10 years reported this week that new wavefront-guided procedures used with Lasik eye surgery are producing improved results. “While conventional Lasik is good, we’re finding that wavefront-guided Lasik yields sharper and higher-quality vision, […]

With some recent accidents and a less-than-spotless safety record for Cirrus, training has become a front-burner issue, with all those new airplanes coming into the market with advanced avionics and systems. The FAA’s answer to these changes is called FITS, for FAA/Industry Training Standards, and a curriculum based on the SR22 was its first project. […]

One of those customers for Cirrus aircraft is OurPlane Inc. , of London, Ontario, a fractional-ownership company that is about to launch its 13th and 14th locations, at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and at the Flying Cloud Airport near St. Paul, Minn. “We just ordered 10 new Cirrus SR22s in March,” OurPlane CEO Graham Casson […]