News

Quiz #120: Something Old, Something NewAs the tsunami of change washes over the FAA, leaving it groping for a user-fee lifeline, pilots know to surf the crest, riding old terms, new ways and hope into aviation’s future.

“The top levels of both the FAA and Lockheed Martin are now engaged and committed to fixing the significant problems pilots are experiencing with the new flight service station (FSS) system,” AOPA said on Tuesday. AOPA President Phil Boyer spent nearly an hour on the phone with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey on Sunday, and another […]

An effort to eliminate aviation user fees from the Senate’s FAA funding proposal came within one vote of succeeding on Wednesday, prompting National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen to note that opposition to user fees is strong and growing. “This remarkable vote shows that opposition to the per-flight user fee is […]

An amendment introduced by Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and John Sununu, R-N.H., to strike user fees from S.1300, the Senate FAA reauthorization bill, was narrowly struck down by a roll-call vote of 12-11 on Wednesday during an executive session of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. As such, the four-year FAA reauthorization legislation — sponsored […]

A Cessna 172 and a Beechcraft Bonanza were flying in opposite directions last Friday afternoon, according to witnesses, when their wings clipped and both airplanes fell to the ground. All three men aboard the two aircraft were killed. Several people called 911 after they saw the collision and ran to the wreckage, but they were […]

If your projects aren’t meeting their targets, here’s one solution — move the target so it’s closer to where you are. That’s what the FAA has been doing, according to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who sits on the Senate appropriations subcommittee on transportation. At a hearing last week, the senator said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey’s […]

The control tower at New Orleans Lakefront Airport was closed down byHurricane Katrina in 2005, and is still not back in operation. OnMonday, the National Business Aviation Association, AOPA, and theNational Air Traffic Controllers Association joined together to blastthe FAA for “dragging its feet,” and called for progress. The toweris “essential to safety and the […]

LSA Models Up To 50If anyone thought two years ago that light sport aircraft wouldn’t catch on among manufacturers, theyve been proven wrong this week as the number of certified LSA models now totals 50. Of those, 42 are fixed-wing airplanes, five are weight-shift trikes, and three are powered parachutes, according to Dan Johnson’s sport-pilot […]

Cessna has announced a new three-tiered ProTech program for its Citation Mustang that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to cover labor for all regular maintenance. The cost of the program will be based on an annual average amount with any additional labor costs absorbed by the program, not the customer. The three […]

The news blackout from Pogo Jet doesn’t portend its demise; instead it was merely intentional. According to Pogo Executive Vice President of Operations Mike Stuart, the company has been laying low while working hard behind the scenes to make its flat-rate (per hour) charter service a reality. “We’re waiting to get in when the [very […]