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Reporter Christiane Amanpour took a look at GA security on CNN’s Larry King Live last week, and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) says the show was “irresponsible in its lack of balance.” NBAA President Ed Bolen wrote to the network, asking for an opportunity to present “a full picture of GA security.” No organization […]

With traveling on the airlines just getting worse, and ever more security restrictions and delays, some observers now are fretting that travelers will go looking for charter flights and encounter shady operators. “There’s going to be a lot more guys out there calling themselves John Doe’s Charter,” Miami attorney Stuart Grossman told the South Florida […]

The security concerns were prompted by The Citizen’s chat with Canadian charter operators who are reporting a 25-percent upswing in business since the terror scare in Britain two weeks ago prompted increased security at the 89 Canadian airports that get scheduled service. “We’ve seen a trend where people are a lot more open to the […]

Draconian security measures on airliners and the corresponding upswing in the use of (and interest in) private air transportation has led to perhaps inevitable scrutiny of the security and safety of business aircraft. The first cautionary remarks (that we’ve heard, anyway) come from Martin Rudner, the director of the Canadian Center of Intelligence and Security […]

The Air Force has created a special unit to test the concept. A B-52 from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota has been assigned to the group and it will be modified so that two of its eight engines run on a blend of synthetic and JP-8. Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke told the Shreveport […]

Where there are hydrocarbons, there can be jet fuel, and the Air Force is looking at an 85-year-old technology to solve a modern problem. Jet fuel is made from oil, some of which must be purchased from other countries (and occasionally expended in the defense of and acquisition of same, according to some). The Air […]

It’s been a tough month for Martinsburg because Tiger’s neighbor, Sino Swearingen, has announced that 50 employees at its SJ30 fuselage and wing plant in the West Virginia plant are being laid off, along with 100 at the main assembly plant in San Antonio. The announcement came about six weeks after the company said it […]

The owners of Tiger Aircraft LLC are suing the company’s former CEO, saying he sold off the company’s assets without their approval. Gene Criss was fired in early August after he cut a deal with a Florida company called Network Hosts (which, ironically, owns 39 scrap yards, among other successful ventures). According to the Martinsburg […]

The main advantages of ethanol fuel, Behnken says, are, number one, it’s produced domestically, and number two, it avoids the environmental and safety issues of the toxic components of 100LL. Although it’s true that the U.S. can’t produce enough ethanol to fuel the entire auto fleet, it could supply the GA fleet several times over. […]

Jim Behnken, chief test pilot for AGE85, told AVweb yesterday there’s no need for pilots to be anxious about that scenario. “100 low-lead might be available for another 100 years. But if it does go away, we do have an answer.” Behnken said his group’s research shows that ethanol can do the job. “I can […]