News

The FAA has granted Supplementary Type Certification for the Alakai Technologies engine trend monitoring system for Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft, which when combined with the Alakai digital flight data recorder performs the same basic functions as the so-called black box recorder required on airliners. Such recorders are not required on aircraft with fewer than […]

New York legislators have removed a bill that would have barred anyone younger than 17 from flying any type of aircraft in the state. FAA regs allow teens as young as 14 to fly balloons and gliders solo and also allow 16-year-olds to solo powered planes, but the now-defunct proposal would have set the limit […]

While the debate over the FAAs future funding process is big news in aviation circles, it barely registers in the mainstream media but there are occasional exceptions. The Kingsport Times-News in Tennessee saw some news value in a presentation given by Don Carter, owner of Tri-Cities Aviation, to the Tri-Cities Regional Airport Commission last week […]

Columbia Aircraft has replaced its CEO and announced a four-to-six-week furlough of about 25 percent of its workforce as part of a major restructuring bid. The company will remain in operation and continue to produce airplanes but under new leadership. Bing Lantis has stepped down as CEO “to attend to family matters and other personal […]

Columns|Features|What’s New|Calendar|Brainteasers “Four from the marker, maintain 2000 until established on the localizer, cleared ILS 22 approach.” Readback correct. In a GPS world, the ground-based Instrument Landing System still breathes. See if you can keep the needles crossed.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday recommended that the FAA issue an Airworthiness Directive requiring Cessna 150s and 152s owners to comply with Cessna Service Bulletin No. SEB01-1 specifying a one-time inspection of the airplanes’ rudder bumpers. If mandated, the check would need to be done at the next 100-hour or annual inspection to […]

The FAA needs to communicate its air traffic policies relating to staffing in writing, according to a report from the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) that was released last week. The report was conducted to consider the staffing issue as it related to the August 2006 crash of a Comair regional jet […]

The Senate last week passed a bill on aviation security that would require the Transportation Security Administration to develop a “standardized threat and vulnerability assessment program” for general aviation airports within one year. If the bill becomes law, the TSA would also be directed to consider providing grants to GA airports for security upgrades. The […]

On Friday morning, Barrington Irving, a 23-year-old college student in Florida, will launch on the first leg of a five-week flight, aiming to become the first African American and the youngest person ever to fly solo around the globe. Irving hopes his quest will inspire other young people to follow their dreams. Born in Jamaica, […]

If you’re eager to invest in the flying car of the future — which is always just about ready to launch — you have plenty of options, and a new one was added this week. PAL-V Europe on Tuesday announced its start-up in the Netherlands, showing a concept of a three-wheel fly/drive vehicle that it […]