News

An incident that thankfully ended with some fairly rattled pilots and passengers but no more than a little lost tire rubber begs the question of who is training whom at some of the nation’s air traffic control towers. The National Air Traffic Controllers Union says two trainee controllers were in on duty by themselves in […]

With winter weather coming, now’s a good time to think about the three main deicing systems out there: pneumatic boots, TKS and electro-thermal. Sister publication Aviation Consumer is conducting a survey on what pilots think about them. Even if you have experience with only two of the three, we’d like to hear from you. Send […]

The B-2 Stealth Bomber has been flying for almost 20 years, according to Dave Mazure, vice president of long-range strike, Northrop, and it’s never had a computer processor upgrade — now, the Air Force wants to change that. Together with Northrop Grumman, the Air Force hopes to introduce new technology, including a new digital “active […]

The FAA says the Cessna 162 Skycatcher LSA prototype “entered an unrecoverable spin” before crashing last Thursday. The pilot of the test aircraft was able to parachute to safety but was unhurt. There was no word what caused the spin but the aircraft was on a test flight. The aircraft was apparently intact after crashing […]

The most recent application for a second-class medical certificate of a 74-year-old airshow pilot with a history of heart-related problems who crashed and died last year during practice for an airshow was approved by a physician who flew with him in airshows, according to the NTSB. Prior to that, in 2005, the FAA had denied […]

“All this talk about the “BRIC” countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and other emerging markets significantly minimizing the next downturn is overblown,” according to aviation consulting practice Brian Foley Associates. While high fuel prices and a stuttering economy may have impacted general aviation sales dropping shipments below recent highs, the 30-40% discount offered to foreign […]

NASA’s Centennial Challenge for aviation operated by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation (CAFE Foundation) is seeking an eco-friendly, 100-mpg, 100-mph aircraft and its designer(s), to which it plans to offer a big green pile of money ($600,000 in 2009). But before that it’s seeking comments on the yet unofficial rules draft (PDF) before Oct. […]

Eclipse Aviation responded Saturday to an announcement that its largest customer, startup on-demand air taxi hopeful DayJet, ceased all commercial operations as of Friday. In keeping with its recent public relations trend, Eclipse’s release on the subject concluded with the statement, “Eclipse will not be releasing any further information or conducting interviews surrounding this media […]

Piper rolled out the red carpet for members of the press wanting an inside look at their single-engine very light jet entry, the PiperJet, and AVweb‘s Paul Bertorelli was on hand to snap a few photos of the demo model in action. Piper VP of Sales Bob Kromer told us in a podcast interview that […]

Piper’s version of the VLJ is still at least two years shy of deliveries, but while customers wait, the company is enticing them with step-up deals from the company’s piston and turboprop offerings. “We’re seeing a trend,” says Bob Kromer, Piper’s sales VP. “Some customers are saying I want a jet in 2012, but I […]