News

NASA is providing a half-million-dollar prize for Phase 1 of a Centennial Challenge that aims to develop technology to help unmanned aircraft operate safely in the national airspace system, the agency has announced. The first phase of the UAS Airspace Operations Challenge will focus on safe airspace operations and robustness to system failures, NASA said. […]

Comments have closed on the FCC’s proposal to phase out 121.5 MHz ELTs but a group of senators has made it a political issue. Five members of the Senate GA Caucus, led by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., have written the head of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, urging him to drop the plan. The senators argue […]

This 2010 video references an outdated web site. Visit the Airline History Museum here. The countdown has begun for the ambitious re-enactment of a record-setting flight that helped usher in the modern age of air travel. The National Airline History Museum hopes to re-create the inaugural coast-to-coast flight of a Lockheed Constellation flown by Howard […]

A DC-9-32 owned by the U.S. Department of State is up for auction May 15, with a starting bid of $50,000 and, according to the seller, the aircraft was “part of Air Force Two” and “may have acted as Air Force One.” According to auction documents provided by the government, “In the thirty years this […]

Two men suffered minor injuries Friday when the Maverick “flying car” they were in crashed in an elementary schoolyard in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Children had just started classes for the day and no one on the ground was hurt. Ray Seibring, the pilot, and passenger Ed Haaskyk were on a demonstration flight of the […]

The 149 federal contract air traffic control towers previously targeted for closure beginning June 15 will remain open through Sept. 30 the FAA said Friday, as other programs also found funding. The Department of Transportation said Friday it would fund air traffic technology and maintenance programs with $21 million by moving funds within its budget. […]

A relative surge in shipments of multi-engine turboprops led a positive first quarter for all GA shipments as billings improved by 31.7 percent over last year’s number, GAMA announced Thursday. Improvements to piston aircraft and jet shipment numbers were modest, posting positive changes of 3.8 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively. Diamond’s DA40 led all models […]

The FAA Wednesday announced that 72 control towers (PDF) and other facilities that had been slated to shut down night operations to meet budget cut requirements will stay open. The FAA had planned to eliminate night shifts at 69 towers, two regional approach control facilities and one tower that also provided approach control services. The […]

Honda Aircraft Co. confirmed this week it will delay until late 2014 its certification effort for the HondaJet light business jet to accommodate more testing for the aircraft’s GE Honda Aero engines. The company announced last October that it was aiming for full FAA certification in the first half of 2013 with deliveries to customers […]

Anyone who has been a flight student in the last two years is invited to take part in an online poll and share their experience and insight, AOPA said recently. The poll deadline is Aug. 9 and is open to all; you don’t need to be an AOPA member to participate. “This unique pilot poll […]