News

EAA has reportedly confirmed that it’s talking with “Jetman” Yves Rossy to perform at AirVenture 2013. AOPA Online reported that the talks, which will include Rossy’s sponsor Breitling, are under way but the performance is far from a sure thing. “Our people have talked with him and his group. Nothing is confirmed,” EAA spokesman Dick […]

A spokesman for a major aircraft leasing company says a new “golden age” of aviation is upon us and will persist for at least a decade. Dick Forsbergh, head of strategy for Avolon, an Irish leasing company, told a Manila newspaper that aviation is a fundamental component of economic expansion and developing economies all over […]

The FAA has certified the upgraded Cessna Grand Caravan EX and deliveries are already under way. The core of the upgrade is a much more powerful (867 shaft horsepower) Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-140 engine in place of the 675-horsepower Pratt that powers the standard models. The effect on performance is substantial. Cessna was hoping […]

An Alabama man has been placed on probation for a year and may have to take anger management lessons after he admitted shooting at a neighbor’s biplane as it was about to land on the neighbor’s home strip last June. Jason Allen McCay, 36, of Hayden, Ala., admitted to investigators that he fired at the […]

Japan Airlines says a mysterious series of fuel valve malfunctions will keep one of its Boeing 787s out of service indefinitely as engineers track the problem. According to Reuters, the aircraft dumped about 40 gallons of fuel on the ramp at Boston Logan Airport after a transfer valve linking the belly tank and a wing […]

An agreement published in a Pentagon inspector general (IG) report to Congress last month discloses that Boeing has agreed to pay the Air Force $1 million to replace “defective” parts that in 2007 caused the in-flight breakup of an F-15 (AVweb video). The pilot in that event was able to eject and survived with injuries […]

Boeing has sourced multiple problems with its 787 Dreamliner to faulty circuit boards and Friday the FAA announced it is launching a review of the jet’s electrical systems, including the outsourced manufacture and installation of components. Aside from incorporating new technologies, production of the 787 involves a much more outsourced process than its other jets. […]

A UK court has found former British flight instructor Ian King guilty of fraudulently obtaining a private pilot helicopter license in 2008 for a man who was killed along with his wife weeks later in the UK while flying a Gazelle. The court was advised that King, a former Army captain, had two prior Civil […]

Autopilots and autothrottles commonly used on modern aircraft are useful tools but may have already led to degraded piloting skills, according to the FAA, which earlier this month released a safety alert to encourage manual flight operations. In a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) the FAA said flight operations data has identified “an increase in […]

Gary Sinise plans to donate to charity all proceeds from his new DVD, “High Flight,” a newly released documentary that follows his flight in a Lockheed U2 Dragon Lady and comes fresh on the heels of the CIA’s release of that aircraft’s “Utility Flight Handbook.” The CIA last week declassified the Lockheed’s 1959 flight handbook, […]