News

AVweb‘s Fiddling Around America tour wrapped up at Dan Gryder’s home base in Griffin, Ga. after about 3,000 nautical miles and 28.5 hours of flying time on a trip that took the Herpa DC-3 as far north as the upper peninsula of Michigan, as far west as Watertown, S.D. and through the Southeast. Gryder said […]

The Indian air force has slanted to a more ornithologically conscious approach to flight planning following a bird strike involving one of its aircraft and reported in the flight levels. A huge four-engine IAF IL-76 transport was flying at more than 22,000 feet when it struck a yet-unidentified bird. The aircraft landed safely, but the […]

A CFM56-2A-2 engine has flown 19,655 hours on the wing of an E-6 before its first removal, surpassing the old mark of 15,000 hours and setting a military aviation record, according to the official newspaper of Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. The engine was maintained regularly throughout its life on the aircraft, but its most […]

Flight restrictions in place Wednesday and Thursday last week relating to President Barack Obama’s visit to Los Angeles apparently caught six pilots unaware and they may now all pay for their mistakes. Each one may now face anything from certificate suspension to revocation. During Obama’s overnight in Los Angeles (where he attended a Democratic Party […]

The wake-up call of choice for those attending the annual Red Star Pilots Association fly-in at Gaston’s White River Resort in northern Arkansas is the sound of round engines turning for a flight in the dead-still 6 a.m. air. About 20 Nan Changs and Yaks converged on the picturesque resort where the patrons are usually […]

Air New Zealand is coming out in strong support of alternative fuel, saying that more than 3,000 pounds of fuel can be saved on a 12-hour flight if that flight is flown on a jatropha-seed-oil biofuel blend instead of straight Jet A. The airline makes the claim after flying the plant’s seed oil in a […]

The TSA has enacted a new security directive (SD-8G) that means transient pilots flying into airports with commercial service will not need an airport badge or background check as previously required. The directive takes effect June 1 and instead requires pilots to “remain close to their aircraft” leaving it only for trips to and from […]

Starting June 1, 2009, the NTSB will begin to release on its public Web site all public dockets regarding to accident investigation. The program helps align the board with the NTSB Freedom of Information Act Improvement Plan and follows closely on the much publicized contortions the FAA went through in considering the withholding of and […]

Virgin Galactic, the Sir Richard Branson-founded future space tourism provider, Thursday announced that the controllable (on/off) rocket motor to be used in SpaceShipTwo has successfully completed phase-one testing. Virgin believes its hybrid nitrous oxide system is the largest of its kind, capable of propelling payloads (or customers) to more than 2500 mph and heights of […]

Eminent domain has been invoked to secure some 500 acres of in Somerset Country, Pa., from seven owners, for a memorial to United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 that crashed there September 11, 2001, after passengers heeded the call “Let’s roll” and attempted to retake the flight from its hijackers. The memorial for the […]