Business & Military

Reaction so far by general aviation advocacy groups has been mainly positive to the new rules released yesterday by the FAA to manage small drones (55 pounds or less) in the national airspace. “We commend the FAA for balancing the imperative to maintain safety … with the practical needs of this rapidly-emerging industry,” said Bob […]

In response to a flood of opinions about Icon’s proposed purchase agreement for buyers of its A5 light sport aircraft — which included an airplane life limit and liability limits — the company said last month it would amend the agreement, and this week the company released copies of the new documents. The new contract […]

The FAA today published its final rule for the commercial use of small drones under 55 pounds. The rule requires commercial drone operators to be at least 16 years old, pass a security background check and hold a “remote pilot certificate,” which can be attained by passing an “initial aeronautical knowledge test” at an FAA-approved […]

Bombardier will sell its amphibious aircraft program to Viking Air Ltd., the two Canadian companies announced today. The agreement covers the type certificates for all variants of the CL-215, CL-215T and Bombardier 415 airplanes, which are used worldwide as water bombers for firefighting. “This transaction supports our goal of rebuilding a clear path to profitable […]

Without sophisticated sensor packages, modern drones are nothing but expensive RC airplanes. In this AVweb video, we look at some of the things drones can carry to observe the world below. view on YouTube

The ever-creative minds at the City of Santa Monica may have found another way to chip away at the usefulness of the airport they are determined to close. It will be explained at a public meeting Saturday. The city will unveil plans to expand their “airport park” by taking over a 12-acre section of the […]

AVweb‘s search of aviation news worldwide found announcements from the Brooklands Museum, Pipistrel, NATA and Embraer.On July 26, the Brooklands Concorde G-BBDG will droop her trademark nose for the first time in almost 35 years as Brooklands Museum marks the completion of 10 years since she officially opened to the public as an exhibition, event […]

I’ve covered this budding electric aviation thing just enough to understand this: The idea that an electric motor has so few moving parts that all you do is keep feeding it power and it will run smoothly forever is just wrong. The minimal parts count is right, but the simplicity isn’t. But it’s nice to […]

The U.S. government has given permission to six airlines to go ahead and start service to secondary cities in Cuba, but the OK to fly to Havana is still on hold till later this year. The new treaty between the U.S. and Cuba allows U.S. airlines to ultimately fly up to 110 flights daily to […]

John Frank, a founder and executive director of the Cessna Pilots Association, died at his home in Santa Maria, California, on Thursday, June 9. Frank was well-known as an expert and advocate for Cessna aircraft and pilots. He hosted seminars, consulted with the FAA and other agencies, and authored three buyers’ guides. He was an […]