News

Members of the House Ways and Means Committee heard from several players in the aviation-taxes/user-fee debate in a hearing on Wednesday. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey made her pitch for user fees, telling the committee that “general aviation drives about 16 percent of the costs of the air traffic control system, while only paying about 3 […]

As very light jets begin deliveries in the U.S., the demand for training is on the rise, and that’s good news for the folks who build flight simulators. An analysis by Frost & Sullivan, released this week, shows that training and simulation for VLJs is already a $73 million market and should grow to $84 […]

Yingling Aviation, a Cessna-affiliated general aviation services provider located at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, has announced that it will add 9,000 square feet of hangar and office space to make room for McCauley propeller overhaul and service. The $1.5 million addition, which is the first part of a two-phase expansion, is expected to be completed by […]

A controller who was communicating with famed test pilot Scott Crossfield shortly before he crashed his Cessna 210 in April 2006 did not provide any severe weather advisories, although he acknowledged that adverse weather was present “all over” his sector, according to the recently released NTSB factual report. The controller told investigators that he believed […]

Plenty of young adults would like to try jumping out of an airplane, says Josh Berg, of Ontario, Canada, so why not give them a chance to do it while raising money for a worthy cause? “A lot of organizations have done the walking and biking things — skydiving is something new,” Berg told the […]

The FAA over the last year or so has made clear that the much-vilified age-60 retirement rule for pilots is on its way out. But for many pilots who are turning 60 now or expect to soon, the likelihood that things will change – but haven’t yet — makes their situation just that much more […]

A throttle lever on the A320 that crashed after overrunning the runway in Sao Paulo, Brazil, last month may have been in “accelerate” position when it should have been in “reverse” position, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Reuters cited flight-recorder transcripts published in a Brazilian newspaper. The airline, TAM, has already said that one of the […]

While concerns over price, availability and environmental impact have aviators worried about the future of fuel, one ultralight flyer in New Jersey has already solved that problem. Randall Fishman has been testing lithium-ion polymer battery packs to drive the prop on his ultralight trike, and he says they work great. They are powerful, smooth, sturdy, […]

Any pilot who has tried formation flying knows it is harder than it looks. And if flying close to two or three pals seems daunting, imagine flying in formation with 34 other airplanes. But a group of Van’s RV pilots, determined to honor designer Richard VanGrunsven and Van’s Aircraft on their 35th anniversary of being […]

Attendance at this year’s AirVenture show was up about 3 percent over last year, EAA President Tom Poberezny said on Monday, with an estimated total of about 560,000 visitors. Other numbers included more than 10,000 aircraft that flew in to Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other nearby fields; 2,647 showplanes (985 homebuilts, 1,014 vintage […]