News

The first flight of RoboSwift — a 3-ounce, 8-“feathered” propeller-driven micro-aircraft with morphing wings spanning (at their widest geometry) 20 inches and a standard tail — ended in a tree, according to ChinaView.cn. That might be fitting, but the YouTube video of another flight tells a different story. (Beware of the graphic language spoken in […]

James Polehinke, first officer, pilot flying and sole survivor of the August 2006 Comair CRJ-100 crash that killed the other 49 aboard at Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport, is “determined to fly again,” according to a report by The Associated Press. The accident took place after the crew of Flight 5191 was cleared for a 6 […]

The FAA has a lot of input to consider as it takes the first steps toward implementing its NextGen airspace and air traffic control system. Commentsclosed on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) on Monday. ADS-B is considered the fundamental technology of NextGen and theres a lot […]

A coalition of 35 business, political and aviation organizations has sent a joint letter to the Senate requesting that a long-term FAA reauthorization bill be given top priority. In a news release Airports International Council President Greg Principato says aviation is too important to languish in the legislative ether and the organizations just want something […]

An Illinois pilot who tried to beat traffic and fly his son to a tennis match — landing his ski-equipped 1949 Piper Clipper on a snow-covered golf course — is being investigated by the FAA. Police arrived at the scene Saturday afternoon after concerned neighbors called to report a crash, and found pilot Robert Kadera, […]

When Congress passed a tax law back in 2003 that allowed buyers of new general aviation aircraft to depreciate up to 50 percent of the value in the first year (providing the aircraft was bought for business use), the incentive was credited with helping to boost sales by as much as 30 percent. Now Congress […]

Donald S. Lopez, 84, author, aviator, and deputy director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C., died of a heart attack on March 3. Lopez joined the Smithsonian in 1972 as part of the team that planned the NASM, which opened in July 1976. “The nation has lost a true […]

The Tempest Plus Marketing Group of Greenville, S.C., announced this week that it has formed a new company called Volare Carburetors to complete its acquisition of Precision Airmotives MSA line of carburetors and spare parts. The new company will be headquartered in Gibsonville, N.C. All Volare MSA carburetors and components will be marketed under the […]

The growing use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System is raising a number of safety concerns, and the NTSB said this week it will address them all in a three-day forum, April 29 to May 1, in Washington, D.C. The forum will provide an opportunity for the board and interested parties […]

The Aircraft Electronics Association, which represents virtually all the companies that make and fix avionics, says the FAAs proposed next-generation communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) system is more elaborate than it needs to be and wastes the money aircraft owners have already spent on their current gear. In a news release issued Tuesday, the day […]