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Meanwhile, the FAA’s efforts to mandate safety-related changes for the maintenance of aging transport aircraft are meeting with stiff resistance from the airlines. The Air Transport Association filed its comments Tuesday on the proposed rule, which was posted in April, calling it premature, incomplete, unjustified and too expensive. The FAA estimated costs at $360 million […]

A bill that was introduced into the Senate last week would require the FAA to explain why it has not implemented the recommendations of the NTSB’s “Most Wanted Safety Improvements.” The accounting would be due within 90 days after the legislation is enacted. The stipulation is part of the 2006 NTSB Reauthorization Act. The Most […]

EAA president Tom Poberezny found little comfort in the fine. “A settlement has been reached that unfortunately puts the burden on Chicago taxpayers, but for aviation and Chicago, it’s too little, too late,” he said. EAA in the past sponsored regular monthly Young Eagles flight rallies with the Tuskegee Airmen at Meigs. For years, Friends […]

“This is a drop in the bucket, compared to what Chicago has lost,” said Steve Whitney, president of the Friends of Meigs Field. “A downtown business airport like Meigs is worth its weight in gold to the economy.” His organization has documented over $490 million in annual spending by Meigs users prior to its demolition, […]

That price, to be paid by the nearly 3 million citizens of the city of Chicago for the decision made by its mayor, will be over $1 million. The final decision on what penalty the city will pay for bulldozing Meigs Field in the middle of the night in March 2003 was announced Monday by […]

Environmental groups are trying to shout down the project, which still has some hoops to go through. The National Resources Defense Council says that from an aviation standpoint, the airport isnt needed because traffic is dropping at the existing facility. “Given that traffic at the current airport has dropped dramatically, there’s no demand for this […]

The FAA formally gave its blessing for a new major airport near Panama City on the Florida Panhandle. The agency issued its Decision of Record accepting the environmental-impact statement and clearing the way for federal funding for the $300 million project. The state has committed $82.5 million to the project and civic officials are hailing […]

The T-3s were purchased as part of a program to save money on initial flight training by the Air Force. The fully aerobatic, relatively high-performance aircraft allowed the Air Force to expose flight-training prospects to the twists and turns of military flying at relatively low cost to make sure they could handle the larger, more […]

Photo by San Antonio Express News It doesnt appear anyone had any hope of the aircraft flying again. They were outfitted to military specifications and the Air Force estimated that converting them to civilian standards and fixing the effects of nine years of neglect would cost upward of $100,000 per plane. But what local pilots […]

Photo by Norris Warner The flying fraternity and sorority in the San Antonio area is collectively shaking its head at what some are describing as a senseless waste of tax dollars with the destruction of 110 piston-single aircraft. As AVweb told you in its Sept. 15 Audiocast, the T-3 Slingsby Firefly pilot screening aircraft, virtually […]