News

It’s likely not a top concern for pilots, but it ranks among them, and so Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, is slated to receive the first bird radar system deployed in a war zone, DeTect Inc., maker of the MERLIN Bird Radar system, announced last week. By the end of 2009, the system is set to be […]

A proposal to consolidate aviation weather service units is under consideration and a September report by the Government Accountability Office says that the National Weather Service (NWS) and the FAA have yet to properly address key challenges even though the interagency agreement will expire at the end of the month. The proposed restructuring considers changing […]

Hurricane Jimena slammed into mid-Baja roughly two weeks ago, damaging buildings, destroying infrastructure and disrupting water, power and telephone services, while blocking streets and impairing relief efforts. Now the Baja Bush Pilots are seeking resources to help fill the void. The group, originally formed by Arnold Senterfitt, who in the mid-1960s mapped airports in the […]

The Commemorative Air Force will on the weekend of Oct. 10 host at its headquarters in Midland, Texas, the CAF AIRSHO that will take visitors “back in time to the mid-1940s.” More than 100 aircraft, ranging from early vintage designs to examples of today’s American military, will be complemented by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby […]

Erroll Southers has been selected by the Obama administration to be the fifth administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA was formed “immediately following the tragedies of Sept. 11,” 2001, and now employs roughly 50,000 people. It is charged with (among other things) overseeing security at some 450 U.S. airports. Erroll, who is a […]

A Boeing 737 operated by AeroMexico was hijacked on Wednesday after departing from Cancun. None of the 112 passengers and crew on board were harmed in the incident and police arrested several men after the flight landed in Mexico City. No shots were fired, according to the Associated Press. It was unclear at our deadline […]

In just five years, the Light Sport Aircraft industry has made it to S-LSA model No. 100, with the approval of Van’s RV-12. The RV-12 LSA approval was announced in late July, but it wasn’t until this week that Dan Johnson, chairman of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, realized that the paperwork for the Krucker […]

In a business update that was webcast on Wednesday, executives with Textron, the parent company of Cessna and Bell Helicopters, said “recent data indicate early signs of stabilization” in the economy, and the long-term outlook for deliveries is strong. The percentage of used Citations available for sale improved over the last four months, and daily […]

The annual Gordon Bennett balloon race, the premier event in the small world of gas ballooning, launched in Geneva, Switzerland, last Saturday, with 16 teams competing. With online tracking of each team now available, the competition can be watched by a worldwide audience. The race rules are simple — whoever lands at a point farthest […]

Francis Rogallo, who patented a flexible wing design in 1948 that has been credited with spurring the development of hang gliders, sport parachutes, and ultralights, died at his home in North Carolina on Sept. 1. In the 1950s, Rogallo and his wife, Gertrude, who was credited as co-inventor of the wing, gave their patent to […]