News

AOPA is reporting that a group of senators has introduced a bill that would require the FAA to follow rulemaking procedures before it could adopt its much-maligned new standard for expensive sleep apnea testing for pilots. The Senate bill, introduced by members of the bipartisan General Aviation Caucus, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., […]

After testing the market for a year with a limited offering of ready-to-fly Light Sport aircraft, Vans Aircraft is taking the plunge into full production of its popular RV-12. In a podcast interview with AVweb at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Fla., on Thursday, Adam Smith, a business development consultant for Vans, said […]

World Aircraft Company, of Paris, Tenn., has been laying low for a couple of years but 2014 will be the year to formally launch its line of American-built Light Sport aircraft. President Eric Giles told AVweb the Vision and its dressed-up stablemate the Spirit were originally designed in South America for the European market but […]

If Vans is the most prolific of experimental aircraft vendors, RANS Designs is right behind them with more than a half dozen airplanes in the line. At the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring this week, RANS is adding yet another model, the S20 Raven, an evolution of its popular Coyote model. The S20 will debut […]

On Jan. 16 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its annual Most Wanted list of needed improvements in transportation safety. The aviation-related items are a need to identify and communicate hazardous weather conditions to pilots, address the unique characteristics of helicopter operations, strengthen occupant protection, improve fire safety and eliminate pilot distractions. At a […]

Canadian authorities are investigating the case of n teenager who was apparently allowed to board a flight even after security found a pipe bomb in his carry-on. Using gunpowder obtained from an undisclosed source, 18-year-old Skylar Murphy of Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, and a buddy made two pipe bombs. Boys being boys with explosives, they […]

Even as the number of laser attacks on aircraft has shot up, convictions of the accused have been difficult to achieve. Now, as reported by Phys.org, new, reasonably priced technology may help. In 2006, 384 laser attacks on flight crews were reported-that number shot up to 3482 in 2012 and, while all data has not […]

As the FAA is creating new rules to govern unmanned aircraft systems, questions have arisen about the proliferation of model aircraft, which can have wingspans up to 20 feet and run on multiple small jet engines. Inexpensive, ready-to-fly toy UASs, many controlled by smartphone apps or tablets, have expanded the attraction of the hobby. The […]

Boeing is working with the FAA to gain approval to blend a renewable form of “green diesel” derived from oils and fats with traditional jet fuel, the company said this week. Sources already available could provide nearly 1 percent of the global jet fuel demand, about 600 million gallons. “Green diesel approval would be a […]

A Japan Airlines Boeing 787 was grounded early Wednesday because of an overheated cell in one of its lithium ion batteries. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the incident occurred about 4 a.m. local time at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. The aircraft did not have any passengers aboard but was scheduled to fly to Bangkok […]