News

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has paid the state $2,100 as reimbursement for using a state police helicopter to fly to his son’s baseball games. The flights occurred early last week and at first Christie said he considered dropping in on the games an appropriate use of the helicopter in his quest to “balance his […]

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission says LightSquared will not be allowed to build a broadband Internet system that interferes with GPS. In a letter (PDF) to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, Julius Genachowski says the FCC “will not permit LightSquared to provide commercial service until it is clear potential GPS interference concerns have been […]

The city council and Mayor Richard Bloom have announced they will not appeal a January ruling that prevents them from banning Category C and D jets at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, but 2015 may still bring a showdown. The city has argued that those larger, faster business jets at the airport present a safety hazard […]

FedEx pilot Gordon Boettger on Tuesday set the new high mark for glider flight in the northern hemisphere when he covered more than 1,400 miles surfing a mountain wave downwind of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in his 1972 Kestrel 17. The trip was a 13-hour “yo-yo” flight from Minden, Nev., to Minden, Nev. — […]

Regulations and technological restrictions suggest it may not happen very soon, or at all, but some researchers believe aerial turbines will be tapping high-altitude winds for power generation sometime in our future and perhaps within the decade. For researchers, the mother lode would be to maintain flying electric generators in the jet stream. Scientists estimate […]

The loss of Air France Flight 447 has stirred comments on training and automation, but if you’d like to better understand the in-cockpit dynamics of a commercial airliner flying overseas through storms at night … here’s a closer look. AVweb’s Glenn Pew asked Jason Goldberg, a 15,000-hour professional airline pilot who flies long-haul overseas routes, […]

Wittman Regional Airport may be permitted to allow Part 139 operations at the airport during AirVenture 2011 but only if talks between local officials and the FAA improve. To accommodate the flights, the FAA says Wittman Field would need to comply with certain FAA requirements (including the installation of a 10-foot fence) and safety standards […]

Testing has shown that a proposed national wireless broadband network system could negatively impact some GPS systems, or worse, and at least one company has already stepped forward to say they can fix the problem. LightSquared, which hopes to install 40,000 antennas across the country, may now face problems winning FCC approval that could also […]

About 150 EAA chapters around the country will host Young Eagles Day events on Saturday, June 11, EAA said this week. The annual event, which launched in 1994, is a “chance to focus on the program and share the freedom to fly with a new generation,” said EAA President Rod Hightower. Many EAA members independently […]

The FAA, frustrated by a rise in incidents of lasers pointed at aircraft, said on Wednesday it will impose civil fines of up to $11,000 against violators. “Shining a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft is not a joke,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “These lasers can temporarily blind a pilot and make it […]