News

Able Flight held its annual wings ceremony at AirVenture Oshkosh and the organization’s remarkable record of success continues. The six graduates brought to 33 the number of students in wheelchairs who have qualified for light sport and/or private certificates in the past four years. This year everyone who entered the program, which uses aircraft with […]

OpenAirplane, a network of aircraft rental places, has added eight new outlets, including one in Alaska. In an interview with AVweb at AirVenture 2013, co-founder Rod Rakic said thousands of pilots have registered for the unique program, in which they take a single checkride in the aircraft of their choice and that checkride is valid […]

Just a year after launching, Social Flight, the aviation online resource that connects those interested in aviation with events and activities in the industry, is expanding its reach with regional ambassadors. Social Flights Jeff Simon told AVweb at AirVenture that the service was several years in the making, but just a year after its public […]

The retro-look Sam LS, from Canada, which first flew in March, was on display at EAA AirVenture this week, and copies are for sale as a kit. Company president Thierry Zibi told AVweb the aircraft is available as a kit or as sub-kits, for those who prefer to work on the project in smaller chunks […]

AOPA has a strong presence this week at EAA AirVenture, and visitors exploring the central show grounds can find the AOPA sweepstakes airplane on display, a 1963 Beech Debonair, a restoration project still in progress. The engine was in good shape when AOPA acquired it, but it has a completely new avionics panel — after […]

Jetman Yves Rossy sat with AVweb Friday at AirVenture to discuss what it’s like to “be the airplane” as he flies with a six-foot-wing and four microturbines strapped to his back. Rossy explained that his motivation for development of the wing had nothing to do with publicity, but “to be free in the air” and […]

Sean D. Tucker, aerobatic champion and legendary air show performer, has taken over the honorary chairmanship of the EAA’s Young Eagles program. He replaces Chesley Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles, the airline pilots known for ditching an A320 in the Hudson River after losing both engines. “It’s my second full-time job,” Tucker said. “That’s how committed […]

Mike Blyth of The Airplane Factory flew one leg of 14 hours, bucking headwinds over open water, with his son in the Rotax-powered Sling 4 metal kit-built aircraft, to arrive at the show grounds of AirVenture Oshkosh 2013. Blyth and his son flew with an extra 40-gallon fuel tank in the back seat and 80 […]

Nando Groppo, an Italian aircraft manufacturer, debuted their Trial light sport aircraft this week at EAA AirVenture. The all-metal airplane is a short-takeoff-and-landing design capable of operations from rough runways, with folding wings for easy storage. The wing change requires only about five minutes, for one person, with no tools required, the company said. The […]

With Continental Motors tilting strongly toward aerodiesels as a growth strategy, CEO Rhett Ross says hes less convinced that mogas will play a major role in the aviation fuels market. In this podcast recorded this week at AirVenture 2013, Ross said Continental will remain committed to gasoline engines, especially its successful line of large displacement […]