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Three people died near San Diego last Wednesday, when a Cessna 172RG and a Cessna 182 collided in midair at about 4:40 p.m. Nobody on the ground was hurt, though flaming debris fell into a residential area and set a home on fire. A pilot and instructor in the 172RG, owned by Scandinavian Aviation Academy […]

As in last year’s round-the-world trip, Fossett again had trouble with the GlobalFlyer’s fuel system. About 750 pounds of fuel was lost overboard early in the flight. The loss meant that finding the best tailwinds and carefully managing the fuel burn were that much more critical. When Fossett landed in England, he had 200 pounds […]

Steve Fossett had already flown more than 25,000 miles and was descending from 50,000 feet to his planned landing site in England Saturday evening when a generator failed in the Virgin Galactic GlobalFlyer. Fossett diverted from Manston to Bournemouth and landed safely, succeeding in his quest to complete the longest-ever flight in an aircraft, with […]

National Air Transportation Association (NATA) President James Coyne also criticized the budget, saying it “has wrongly short-changed America’s air transportation system.” The budget would completely eliminate the Small Community Air Service Program, NATA said, which promotes development of air service for rural America. He also expressed opposition to user fees, which seem to be increasingly […]

Marching directly behind the parade of President Bush’s budget proposal last week, GA user groups have formed their own. For starters, this from AOPA: “Congress must not allow this to happen,” said President Phil Boyer. “The White House is proposing to cut nearly $1 billion from the Airport Improvement Program in 2007 … [and] almost […]

The GlobalFlyer flew around the world last year and ran into trouble when fuel was vented overboard. The system was redesigned to prevent that problem this time, but the reworked system had not been tested with a full fuel load until this week. A planned takeoff on Tuesday morning was scratched when the new vents […]

The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer launched successfully at 7:22 Wednesday morning from Kennedy Space Center on a planned 80-hour, 26,000-mile jaunt around the world, plus. The aim is to fly the longest nonstop non-refueled distance ever in an aircraft. On takeoff, pilot Steve Fossett passed the 8,000-foot mark on the runway where he had hoped to […]

Meanwhile, at Spanish Fork, Utah, Spectrum Aeronautical‘s new Spectrum 33 light twinjet is moving right along. The jet made its second and third flight tests last Thursday. The flights tested out some improvements and adjustments that were made after the first flight on Jan. 7. Test pilot Bill Davies said the 33 felt solid in […]

Adam Aircraft announced on Monday the first flight of its first FAA-conforming A700 AdamJet, Serial Number 002. The jet took off smoothly and stayed in the pattern for a 34-minute flight at Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colo. “The aircraft handled very well, stability was excellent, and the flight controls were very responsive and predictable,” said test […]

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal took another look at the aviation world, with an editorial supporting privatization of the air traffic control system. The editorial criticized the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) for its “excessive demands.” FAA Administrator Marion Blakey’s proposals are “modest” and “reasonable,” the editorial says, while NATCA, funded with union […]