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Eclipse Aviation is among the GA manufacturers working with the FAA in the program. “The FITS concept reflects our longstanding belief that scenario-based training is critical, and is a perfect fit for Eclipse 500 training requirements,” Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn said in a news release late last month. “We are committed to creating an innovative […]

FAA Promotes New Training Standards… FAA Administrator Marion Blakey on Tuesday released an update on the agency’s year-old program aimed at updating training practices for general aviation aircraft. Blakey said the FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) program, which aims to address technological advances in both flight systems and training techniques, already has produced a transition-training syllabus […]

In Sun Valley, Idaho, Friedman Memorial Airport is embroiled in a controversy over the size of aircraft that can land there. The area attracts lots of wealthy tourists, and the small airport’s 95,000-pound weight limit is rankling some who want to fly in with bigger and heavier jets. Ronald Tutor, a California construction mogul, has […]

Meanwhile, in Stuart, Fla., a disgruntled airport neighbor has enlisted the local trees in his own campaign against low-flying aircraft. Homeowner Michael Carter attached flagpoles to the tops of two 40-foot pine trees on the final approach path to Witham Field. Carter told The Stuart News that he put up the flags to remind pilots […]

Small Airports vs. Tall Trees… Trees have a lot to offer — shade, beauty, they even help to clean polluted air — but as more and more small GA airports struggle to survive the encroachments of neighborhoods and development, some pilots find even the trees can become their enemy. In San Jose, Calif., pilots at […]

Lobbyist Wants Feds To Help 7E7 Project… Boeing could be betting its commercial aircraft division’s future on the new 7E7 (if it’s ever built) and an aerospace industry lobbyist wants the government to hedge those bets. John Douglass, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, told the Associated Press the company shouldn’t have to go it […]

Maintaining Your Older Aircraft… Despite the best efforts of the manufacturers to convince us to buy new airplanes, the GA fleet gets older, on average, with each passing year and that inevitably raises safety concerns. And where safety is an issue, new regulations are not usually far behind. In this case, however, the FAA seems […]

News Regs Open The Doors To GA… The biggest consumer market in the world is opening to GA. Premier Zhu Rongji and Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin recently signed a decree regulating the country’s general aviation industry. The new “Regulation for Flight Control of General Aviation” will reportedly help China make better use of […]

Grass-roots Efforts Shine In The Background With sponsors like Ford, Microsoft, Northrop Grumman and Eclipse and a huge organization like EAA running the show, it’s no wonder the Countdown To Kitty Hawk celebration of 100 years of powered, sustained flight gets most of the attention. And yes, it will be EAA’s replica of the 1903 […]

Draft Strategic Plan Released… The FAA has taken on the daunting tasks of “reinvigorating global air travel and reigniting the power and the potential of aviation for the 21st Century.” And it’s giving itself five years to lay the groundwork. The agency recently released its draft strategic plan (PDF file) for the years 2004 to […]