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“Since 1980, while the total U.S. population has grown by 25 percent, the pilot population has declined by the same percentage. And, worse, student starts are down by more than twice that rate,” AOPA President Phil Boyer said in a news release. To counter the trend, AOPA is urging its members to help their friends […]

Because the LaTourette-LoBiondo bill is jumping the line by not going through the usual vetting process in committee, it has to be introduced under a “suspension of the rules” with the blessing of House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader John Boehner. After that, it must pass with a two-thirds majority, the same level of […]

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill on Wednesday that would order resumption of contract negotiations between the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the FAA. The bill, proposed last week by Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) would stop the FAA from imposing a contract on NATCA and […]

Thielert Aircraft Engines of Germany said on Monday it has obtained supplemental type certification (STC) from the European Aviation Safety Agency to integrate its jet-fuel/diesel piston engines into additional Piper PA28 series aircraft. Two years ago, Thielert incorporated the Centurion 1.7 in the Piper PA28-161 as a rebuilt engine. Now, STCs for the Piper series […]

Tiger Aircraft has plenty of orders, but until new financing comes through, there is not much activity at the factory. “We’ve cut back, but we’re still there,” company spokesman Mat Goodman told AVweb on Tuesday. “Things are about the same. We’re still working on a financing deal.” Goodman said he hopes to have more news […]

New Piper has been busy the last year or so dealing with hurricanes, union conflicts and more, but now is ready to think about the future. “We’re very, very diligently working” on new product designs, says New Piper CEO Jim Bass, who joined the company just last September. He said he’s not ready to announce […]

Diamond Aircraft has officially confirmed plans AVweb told you about last year — that the single-engine D-Jet will make its public debut this July at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The five-place (four-passenger) jet flew for the first time in April and has been in flight testing since then. Goals put the price below $900,000, max range […]

Although recent Airworthiness Directives and Service Bulletins have addressed problems with crankshafts in Lycoming engines, none of them applied to this particular airplane, Lycoming spokeswoman Daria Fish told AVweb yesterday. “Whether the fracture of the crankshaft at that location was secondary to some other cause is not known yet,” Fish said. Further, “the reported fracture […]

The 2005 Cessna 172S that shed its propeller while climbing out from St. Augustine (Fla.) Airport last Tuesday had a crankshaft failure, the NTSB said in its preliminary report. The airplane total time at the time of the incident was 399.3 hours. A pilot had landed the airplane at St. Augustine on Monday, reportedly after […]

The application of user fees may come down to a definition of general aviation. Those who speak in favor of fees (generally airline representatives) usually point to business aircraft as examples of how unfairly treated the airlines (which normally carry hundreds more passengers per plane) are and American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey was beating that […]