News

The FAA on Friday released a proposed final policy (PDF) to address “through-the-fence” situations, where airplane owners who live adjacent to an airport are able to park their aircraft at home and access the field through a gate. The FAA had moved to stop all such access several years ago, and various interest groups have […]

Glasair, which sells a popular line of homebuilt aircraft and offers the “two weeks to taxi” option at its Washington factory, announced on Saturday that it has been acquired by Jilin Hanxing Group, based in China. Fang Tieji, chairman of the company, has formed Glasair Aviation USA LLC. The new owners plan to invest “substantially” […]

Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Cirrus Aircraft was not legally required to provide training to Gary Prokop, who was killed while flying his SR-22, and also may have created a significant legal precedent. The suit alleged that Cirrus and training partner The University of North Dakota (UND) had not provided the roughly 240-hour […]

Cessna’s parent company, Textron Inc., reported increased earnings in Q2 2012, and reportedly might consider making a bid on assets held by bankrupt Hawker Beechcraft Inc., if the price is right. Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Textron’s CEO, Scott Donnelly, said during an earnings conference call that Hawker holds “assets in which we have an […]

ForeFlight, one of the pioneer mobile app developers for pilots, has earned Qualified Internet Communication Provider (QICP) status from the FAA. According to ForeFlight, the new status means that Part 121 and Part 135 operators can use ForeFlight as their official source for weather information. The QICP process was established to allow companies to provide […]

If buyers lacked choices in the ADS-B market a year ago, the reverse will likely be true at AirVenture next week. Two companies — FreeFlight Systems and Dynon — have just announced their own ADS-B entries and more may be on the horizon, competing with recent products from Garmin, Sportys and upgraded units from SkyRadar. […]

According to police, pilot Brian Hedglin, 40, had been placed on leave by SkyWest after the carrier learned he was being investigated by police, and before Tuesday, when he hopped a razor-wire fence, boarded a CRJ200 and killed himself. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Hedglin had previously been arrested for criminal mischief theft and […]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Wednesday announced that at least a few foreign students entered the country illegally, were not vetted by the TSA, and were approved for flight training by the Alien Flight Student Program (AFSP). In its report, the GAO concluded that “weaknesses exist” in the specific strategies intended to diminish the […]

EAA AirVenture opens in Oshkosh next Monday, and as usual, the show will overflow with airplanes and events. The afternoon airshows feature all the top aerobatic performers, and this year they’ll be joined by a new act appearing at Oshkosh for the first time — Team RV, which calls itself “the world’s largest formation aerobatic […]

Several individuals and groups were honored recently by the annual Public Benefit Flying Awards, which are bestowed by the National Aeronautic Association and the Air Care Alliance. This year, the award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Benefit Flying was given to Bob Showalter of Showalter Flying Services, an FBO in Orlando, Fla., “for committed support […]