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During an “online public meeting” conducted on the topic earlier this month, hundreds of e-mails were exchanged between concerned pilots and FAA staff. In the meeting, FAA spokeswoman Alberta Brown said the FAA is likely to be flexible on some parts of its NPRM, but not on others. “We may consider not regulating you under […]

EAA said the safety statistics cited by the FAA fail to prove that there is any problem. “Nearly all of the accidents referenced in the NPRM occurred during operations that were either being conducted under a Part 135 certificate or were otherwise in violation of existing and adequate regulations,” EAA said. “This leads us to […]

EAA Asks FAA To Forget The Air Tour NRPM… The FAA should withdraw its proposal to impose new regulations on air-tour operators, EAA said last week, and start over. “The very foundation of this proposal is so flawed,” EAA said in its 15-page comment, filed on Thursday, “… [the FAA should] re-evaluate the data and […]

XM Satellite Radio and Heads Up Technologies announced Monday that the FAA has granted a Supplemental Type Certificate and Parts Manufacturer Approval (STC-PMA) for the XMD075-01 aviation data receiver manufactured by Heads Up. XM WX Satellite Weather provides pilots with graphical information about weather conditions across the United States, including NEXRAD radar in a high-resolution, […]

New Pilot Stuff For Spring… With spring, new aviation stuff seems to sprout like crocuses, and this year Cirrus Design is getting a jump on the season. Cirrus announced on Tuesday that it’s ready to launch a new version of its popular SR22 model, dubbed the SR22-G2. The G2 will feature a new fuselage and […]

“If there had even been a tall chain link fence with barbed wire on top of it, I would have just turned around and went on home,” Louis Paul Kadlecek told the Houston Chronicle last week. Kadlecek is the 21-year-old who police say stole a Cessna 172 on a drunken whim on Feb. 29 and […]

The report also recommends that, in the event that aerial-advertising waiver restrictions are repealed, the TSA should determine whether more comprehensive background checks are warranted. Lawyer Julian Hayes, who represents the U.S. Aerial Advertisers Association, told AVweb that he has no problem with more-comprehensive checks. “Nobody would object to any level of scrutiny, if they […]

TSA, FAA Procedures Reviewed… The TSA and FAA need to be more careful and consistent in conducting background checks of pilots when they authorize waivers for aerial advertisers to fly over restricted stadium airspace, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) said in a report issued last Friday. The report, in the form of a letter […]

Of course, the legislators are barely a step ahead of the actual creation of commercial human spaceflight. In fact, the X PRIZE Foundation is so confident that private rockets vying for its $10 million prize will start flying soon, it’s signed a deal for the broadcast rights. Dan Rayburn has been retained to produce a […]

House Passes Key Bill… U.S. space entrepreneurs have been tackling the technological and physical challenges of private space exploration for years but the fledgling industry may be on the cusp of overcoming its biggest obstacle. The government is poised to formally recognize its existence. The House, Friday, passed H.R. 3752, a bill to regulate and […]