Business & Military

The Air Force says it wants surveillance aircraft to be built on business jet platforms as a way to cut acquisition and long-term operations costs. According to Defense News, the first candidate for a bizjet conversion is the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), which is based on a Boeing 707-300. The Air […]

EAA says it’s wondering why the FAA billed it $450,000 for air traffic services at last year’s AirVenture when the NFL won’t have to pay the extra costs associated with the Super Bowl. On Sunday, the FAA told AVwebthat it only bills for services if it has to move equipment and personnel to the venue. […]

Spike Aerospace, an engineering firm based in Boston, has joined the ranks of companies working to bring to market a new supersonic jet. Spike, which launched in 2011, says its S-512 will carry 12 to 18 passengers, sell for about $80 million, and reach speeds up to Mach 1.8. The company hopes to find a […]

A Minnesota brewery’s airborne solution to the preventable yet apparently prevalent problem of running out of beer while ice fishing has been shot down by the FAA. Lakemaid Brewery’s clever use of a six-rotor drone to whisk the frosty brews to their icebound customers runs afoul of the agency’s current ban on the commercial use […]

Sometimes, you just have to pause, stand back and admire a perfect marketing plan. And thats exactly what Lakemaid Brewery pulled off the week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday, but Im not sure how many people got the joke. By now, you will have read that Lakemaid, a craft brewer in Wisconsin, followed Amazons […]

Our weekly review of press releases uncovered news that King Schools has cut the price of its ATP ground school course by 50%. It is to help pilots who wish to obtain their ATP rating before the August 1, 2014 deadline when the new, more difficult and extremely expensive requirements go into effect. Martha King […]

The FAA is taking too long to draft its rules for unmanned aircraft systems, and should go ahead and allow some limited UAS operations, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International said this week. In areas such as around powerlines or pipelines and above rural farms, UAS operations could commence with little risk to manned […]

The military is already flying autonomous aircraft, and the private sector is eager to exploit this new technology. Michael Toscano, president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, explains to AVweb’s Mary Grady why he thinks the FAA should reassess the risks and stop slowing down progress. Duration: File Size: download here

Aviation insurance broker NationAir Aviation Insurance released its annual analysis of the aviation insurance market. It said it believes 2013 marked another year of relatively soft market (low) rates in all sectors of general aviation and that attention to expenses by insurers mean rates should remain stable going forward.While the market conditions have remained the […]

Lee Aerospace has been reacquired by its founder, Jim Lee, after 14 years as part of the Triumph Group Inc. The Wichita, Kan.-based aircraft window, sheet metal and composite structure operation will again be known as Lee Aerospace Inc. Jim Lee projects a solid 2014 and announced the shipment of the first of its large […]