News

Ithaca Tompkins Airport manager Bob Nichols has told the County Legislature to oppose federal legislation that might require additional airport firefighting staff, according to the Ithaca Journal. A companion bill to the FAA Reauthorization Act that, among other things, would authorize the FAA to change fire and rescue regulations is being considered by the Senate. […]

Grace McGuire, now 59, is still pursuing her decades-long dream to finish Amelia Earhart’s final flight flying the same model aircraft with the same instrumentation and parts. The journey has already taken McGuire from her home in New Jersey to the Central Coast of California, where she says it was almost derailed by TSA regulations. […]

An associate professor and graduate students at the University of Kansas (KU) have “perfected” a traffic sensing system that does not rely on other aircraft having an active counterpart and may be available for under $10,000, according to a news release from the University of Kansas. The release does not state that the system has […]

On Aug. 18, a high-power chemical oxygen iodine laser mated to a modified Boeing 747-400F and beam/fire control system designed together to destroy ballistic missiles in boost phase was fired for the first time in flight. The next steps will include more airborne tests before a missile shoot-down demonstration. For the test flight, which launched […]

Tuesday, the FAA increased the authority of Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes division to self-certify its own aircraft. Boeing is set to officially switch to the new system, dubbed Organization Designation Authorization, on Aug. 31, after a training period, according to the Seattle Times. Authority extended to Boeing under the new system allows Boeing employees to perform […]

Marcus Schrenker, 38, of McCordsville, Indiana, who bailed out of his airplane in January and parachuted to safety in an alleged attempt to fake his death, was sentenced to 51 months in prison on Wednesday, CNN reported. Schrenker also must pay more than $34,000 to the U.S. Coast Guard, which mounted a search and rescue […]

A new annual award will honor individuals who have made significant contributions to aviation and transportation safety, the NTSB Bar Association announced on Wednesday. The association is an organization of lawyers and other aviation professionals whose practice involves the NTSB, FAA, and DOT. The award is named in memory of Joseph T. Nall, who served […]

A pending deadline that would make it difficult to find aircraft that could legally be used for ultralight training will probably be extended or discarded by the FAA, EAA said this week. When the sport pilot rules were developed several years ago, the FAA allowed the use of two-seat ultralight E-LSA trainers only until Jan. […]

Jinggong General Aviation Co., a Beijing-based company that is the sole dealer for Cirrus Aircraft in China, will move to the small Huanghua airport about 150 miles outside the city and upgrade it for use as a flying club to help promote the growth of private aviation, China Daily reported this week. Although GA has […]

Click for larger version The last time a sitting president vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard was during the pre-9/11 Clinton years, so when plans were laid for next week’s visit by the Obama family, the extent of the flight restrictions was a bit shocking to local pilots. “This is the most restrictive TFR we’ve seen,” said […]