Recent Updates

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has announced that Heather Penney and Ben Diachun will be joining its board of directors. Penney, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, flew F-16s for 10 years, has directed U.S. Air Force programs for Lockheed Martin and is now a senior resident fellow for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies […]

One morning on departure from Peoria International Airport: Peoria Approach: “I bet you didn’t think you were going to get this type of workout when you asked for the clearance into the Class Charlie, did you?” Cessna: “Peoria Approach, student pilot here. I enjoy the workout.” Peoria Approach: “Roger that.” Unknown aircraft: “If he’s a […]

Fuel Strainer Lottery A significant omission from Jeff Parnau’s very interesting article is the Decathlon’s fourth fuel drain point under the rear fuselage aft of the rear seat that is easily overlooked. It is there because the gascolator is not the lowest point in the fuel system when the aircraft is parked. The plumbing to […]

Bill Cutter, a well-known figure in business aviation died Tuesday at the age of 86. Cutter led Cutter Aviation, taking over from his father William P. Cutter, who founded the business in 1928. Cutter spent his life in aviation and in the Cutter family business, personally interacting with staff and taking a hands-on role in […]

Thirty-six members of the U.S. Senate sent a bipartisan letter to the FAA on Tuesday urging the administration to implement a provision that would make airports using the contract tower program eligible for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants. The provision allowing AIP funding for airports with contract towers was included in the FAA Reauthorization Act […]

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, completed its first successful trip to space on Thursday morning. As shown in the video below,Unity was initially carried to 43,000 feet by WhiteKnightTwo, an aircraft specifically designed to ferry the spacecraft to launch altitude. After release, Unity reached speeds of up to Mach 2.9 and attained an altitude of […]

A Hawker Hunter crashed during an Air National Guard training exercise off the coast of Hawaii on Wednesday. The pilot was able to eject and was rescued about three miles south of Oahu by a private sailboat. He was then transferred to a U.S. Coast Guard vessel and taken to a hospital. It has been […]

The FAA has announced that is redesigning flight paths and air traffic control procedures for aircraft flying over Central and South Florida as part of its Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) airspace modernization initiative. The administration says the endeavor, called the South-Central Florida Metroplex project, will replace “dozens of existing air traffic procedures with […]

Flight Design partner AeroJones Aviation Technology has announced that it will be building a new on-airport manufacturing plant at Dalu General Airport in Zhenjiang, China. Along with a better location and the ability to develop a more efficient facility from the ground up, the company says the move will provide much needed direct access to […]