News

Pilots generally seek to avoid flying in clouds with “known icing,” but “unknown icing” also lurks out there — that is, our ability to predict and pinpoint which clouds harbor icing conditions is not precise. Now a team of engineers at Rowan University, in New Jersey, is working on a way to enable pilots to […]

A Skyship 600 will be tested by the U.S. Navy this summer off the coast of Florida to evaluate its performance as a surveillance aircraft. Working with the Coast Guard, the Navy will collect data about the utility and cost-effectiveness of airships in this role. The ship will carry a crew of three on patrols […]

The FAA brought together 325 experts last week to spend three days discussing the problem of fatigue in aviation operations, and the agency says the symposium produced agreement on two major points — fatigue is a problem, and something should be done about it. No, we’re not kidding — that’s from the FAA news release. […]

United Air Lines will reduce its fleet by 100 aircraft, putting 950 pilots out of work, the company said on Monday. “This process is one of the difficult but necessary steps we need to take to size our business appropriately to reflect the current market reality,” the company said in a memo to pilots. By […]

A software update to the Eclipse 500 jet will solve a problem that was the subject of a recent FAA emergency airworthiness directive, Eclipse Aviation said on Tuesday. Earlier this month, two pilots on approach to Midway Airport in Chicago experienced a throttle failure, resulting in maximum uncontrolled thrust from both Pratt & Whitney Canada […]

A lifelong pilot who was inspired by a young Glenn Curtiss, watched Lindbergh take off from Long Island and held a current instrument rating until he was at least 96 years old, died peacefully in a Poughkeepsie, N.Y., hospital on Sunday. John Miller was 102. As he told AVweb in a 2002 interview, he saw […]

As fuel prices continue to rise, the government of British Columbia is imposing a carbon tax on all fuels, including Jet-A and avgas, that put the price up by at least 10 cents a gallon. The tax, which goes into effect on Tuesday (Canada Day, the country’s annual patriotic holiday) will push the price of […]

An icon in Australian aviation is about to be reborn. Following a ceremony at Latrobe Regional Airport, the type certificate for the Nomad twin turboprop was handed over from Boeing Australia to Gippsland Aeronautics Pty Ltd. (GA). GA purchased the certification of the aircraft along with technical and spares sales support and all intellectual property […]

A Georgian Web site, finchannel.com, is reporting that Bend, Ore.-based Epic Aircraft has reached a deal with Tblisi-based Tbilaviamsheni (TAM) to certify and build its seven-place Elite light jet in the country, under Russian certification. The news service says the cost of the project is $10 million, split between Epic and TAM. Epic did not […]

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, the British government’s anti-terror advisor, says police in that country are worried that light aircraft will be used as “vehicle bombs against places of public aggregation,” adding in his annual report that pulling off that kind of terror attack would be “relatively simple.” Naturally, the report has prompted pressure on […]