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Enter: Synthetic Vision… AVweb has flown with Chelton’s Electronic Flight Information System and seen the future (of aircraft navigation, anyway) and it is nifty … and pricey. Chelton has recently been granted a technical standard order (TSO) for its synthetic vision. “It’s a new way to fly,” said Randy Shimon, the head of sales for […]

Sport-Pilot Rule Still A Year Off… It could be another year before the final rule on Light Sport Aircraft/Sport Pilot is complete, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told a forum at EAA AirVenture yesterday, and the crowd grumbled in dismay. Blakey had drawn a standing ovation when she said she has signed off on the rule […]

More Oshkosh, More Streaming Video So far at AirVenture 2003, we’ve seen something of everything: breezy sunshine, pouring rain, blue skies, gray overcasts, lightning, and threats of hail. But the crowds here continue to grow undaunted. Showplanes keep streaming into the field, and aviation fans with their families, backpacks, and cameras swarm the grounds. Yesterday, […]

Build It And They Will Come? And while some of the biggest names in aviation engines serve up their version of the future for aircraft engines, a virtually unknown South Carolina company has its own ideas of what a high-horsepower piston engine should look like. And Nagel Engines’ prototype is not like anything we’ve seen […]

Honda/TCM Put Heads Together… Competition for Bombardier’s better idea will likely come from Honda and TCM who, with little fanfare and no advance warning, planted a new prototype 225-hp, four-cylinder FADEC-controlled engine in a corner of the Continental booth. Unlike the Bombardier designs, this engine is a horizontally-opposed design but also water-cooled. Departing from the […]

New Jets? New Pistons!… When the introduction of personal jets made a splash at Oshkosh three years ago, we expected 2003, the centennial of powered flight, to be the year of the engine — the jet engine. Surprisingly, its the piston engine that seems to be attracting the spotlight, with the unveiling of details on […]

Bright Blue Beginning Here in sunny Oshkosh, Wis., the dew point is low, spirits are high, and the field is fast filling with airplanes arriving from every corner of the sky. “This nice weather is really bringing people in,” said EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski, early yesterday morning. Camping spots were already up to 99-percent full […]

FAA Reauthorization Bill OK With GAMA… Negotiators from the U.S House and Senate got together on Friday and came up with a final version of the four-year, $59 billion FAA reauthorization bill that has GAMA gushing. “The conference bill is extraordinarily positive,” said GAMA President Ed Bolen in a news release. The bill, known as […]

This Week, Airplanes Aplenty… All the general aviation world is already streaming into EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, setting up and getting ready for the official opening tomorrow morning. Cirrus Design is showing off its new SRV, a VFR-only version of the company’s SR20 model, priced at $189,900. Cirrus is also announcing the conversion of its […]

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