News

There’s only one way to prove that an airplane will fly for a long time but the thought of spending 19 hours flying aimlessly got Boeing engineers channeling their artistic sides through FlightAware. The mission was to test a GE-equipped 787 for extended operations (ETOPS) so those involved decided to make it interesting. In 19 […]

RunwayFinder, the charting and airport information website that was embroiled in legal action with FlightPrep a year ago, is closing. In a statement, owner Dave Parsons said the decision was made partly because of the FAA’s intention to charge fees for chart downloads through its online charting division AeroNav. “While I understand AeroNav’s need to […]

Investigators have found that the crew of a QantasLink Boeing 717 with roughly 100 passengers experienced stick shaker activation during a 2010 flight on two of three approaches, because of pilot error prior to takeoff. The flight was out of Perth for Kalgoorlie and on the first approach, the stick shaker activated as the jet […]

Center for Environmental Health (CEH) director of research Caroline Cox told AVweb Thursday that aviation interests and CEH have started negotiations that could lead to an out-of-court settlement regarding the use of leaded avgas in California. According to Cox, “virtually all” the cases CEH has pursued in its 15 years have ended in settlements. Legally, […]

Long-term funding has finally returned to the FAA after a half-decade hiatus, and the bill will fund system upgrades, initiate a pathway for domestic drone use, and also address a key sticking point — rules that affect pilot unions. Last summer, Congressional-level disagreements over language that would alter how airline workers could unionize and operate […]

The government announced Wednesday that”further investment cannot be justified at this time” to help LightSquared gain approval for its wireless broadband system and new GPS standards may be coming, Inside GNSS reported. The words were delivered by U.S. deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari in an aviation subcommittee hearing. Porcari concluded that LightSquared’s most recent […]

AOPA and EAA are on track to submit a request to the FAA within the next one to two months, asking the agency to allow more pilots to fly without a medical certificate, AOPA said this week. Once the request gets to the FAA, however, the groups expect some delay, due to the recent resignation […]

A Virgin Australia pilot is suing the airline for almost $1 million, claiming he hurt his back hoisting a flight bag stuffed with 40 pounds of charts and manuals. David Kloster, 57, says it never would have happened if the airline had given him an iPad instead. In a filing with the Queensland Supreme Court, […]

Four nominees were named last week by the National Aeronautic Association for the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy, which honors the “greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.” The nominees are: Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, the Gamera human-powered helicopter, and Pipistrel’s Taurus G4 electric-powered airplane. “We are very proud of […]

Cessna has increased the range of its new Latitude midsize business jet, leaving little doubt the new aircraft is a direct response to Embraer’s entry to that market. When it was introduced at NBAA last October the 2,000-nm range raised eyebrows as it was the shortest of any in that segment. In a news release […]