News

It may soon be a federal crime to point a laser at an airplane. The House passed the Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2011 on Monday (PDF) and it calls for prison sentences of up to five years and fines. The Senate included an identical provision in its FAA reauthorization bill. A combined […]

Virgin Galactic and XCOR will carry scientists as well as tourists into suborbital space, under new contracts announced this week. The Southwest Research Institute said it will send two scientists into space aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo and will fly at least six missions aboard XCOR Corporation’s Lynx Mark I spaceplane. The missions will reach altitudes […]

The U.S. must invest in aviation to ensure future economic growth, National Business Aviation Association CEO Ed Bolen told the Aero Club of Washington, D.C., this week. Aviation will be key to ensuring America’s leadership in an increasingly global economy, he said. “Throughout history, great economies and great countries have been defined by their transportation […]

Cirrus Industries Inc., parent company of Cirrus Aircraft, has been sold to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. (CAIGA) of Zhuhai, China, but it appears the company will continue to build parts in Grand Forks, N.D., and assemble airplanes in Duluth, Minn. It has long been rumored that a Chinese company would acquire Cirrus and […]

Have you added more than oil to your engine? If you’ve tried oil additives like CamGuard or AVblend, Aviation Consumer wants to know how it worked out. Whether your experience was good, bad or of no consequence whatsoever, they want to know. Please take a moment to fill out their survey to help the research […]

Known the “father of aerial application,” Air Tractor founder Leland Snow died at the age of 80 last week, while jogging near his Wichita Falls, Texas, home. According to AgAir Update, Snow built his first purpose-built cropduster in 1953 at the age of 23 and went on to build thousands of the iconic aircraft with […]

The airspace isn’t getting bigger but air travel is expected to continue increasing so the challenge will be to find ways to fit more airplanes in the same space. It’s a fundamental part of the NextGen initiative and those designing the systems that will support it need to know from those who actually manage aircraft […]

Almost 3,000 people from 22 countries attended the Women in Aviation International conference in Reno that ended Saturday. In a news release, WAI said $691,750 in scholarships were distributed to 76 recipients ranging from young women just getting started to winners making mid-life career changes. “The conference is about far more than pilots, however,” said […]

The Aviation Fuel Club, a non-profit group dedicated to ensuring access to ethanol-free mogas for light aircraft, is hoping to launch a nationwide network of self-serve fuel depots stocked with 91-octane “pure” gasoline it will call Sport Fuel. Spearheading the effort is Mike Webb, who owns U-Fuel, a Wisconsin company that has developed and sold […]

Police in upstate New York say a “loss of thrust” preceded the likely fatal crash of a BAC 167 Strikemaster into the ice-covered Hudson River near Kingston, N.Y., on Saturday. Pilot Dr. Michael Faraldi is missing and presumed dead after the 42-year-old British jet trainer/light attack aircraft crashed about 1:30 p.m. Witnesses said the plane […]