Recent Updates

The FAA’s new reauthorization bill was approved by both the House and the Senate over the last few weeks, and now has passed the final hurdle—the president’s signature—to become the new law of the land. The bill provides $90 billion in funding over five years, making it the longest-term FAA bill since 1982. GA advocacy […]

The rate of fatal accidents in experimental amateur-built aircraft dropped last year to the lowest rate ever recorded, EAA said last week. The annual activity survey conducted by the FAA shows the estimated number of hours flown in experimental aircraft rose from about 890,000 hours in 2016 to 950,000 in 2017. At the same time, […]

American Mike Goulian claimed his first-ever home soil victory in the Red Bull Air Race series with a convincing victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Goulian’s time of 106.208 was more than a half second faster than runner-up Pete McLeod, of Canada, in the final race. France’s Nicolas Ivanoff was third. “Right now […]

China’s first privately funded and developed aircraft had its first flight a couple of weeks ago but it’s not clear what the future holds. The Guanyi GA20 took a 26-minute hop around Nanchang Airport on Sept. 20. It’s a low-wing composite design and while it might be Chinese in most regards, it’s powered by a […]

Toyota has filed for patent protection of an unusual flying car design that uses the same drive mechanism for road and the air. According to TransportUp, the “Dual Mode Vehicle With Wheel Rotors” uses the rotor hubs as wheels when the device is on the ground. The rotors fold into the wheel allowing the vehicle […]

A high-ranking FAA source has confirmed that the FAA plans to almost triple the maximum weight for most light sport aircraft to 3600 pounds in rulemaking that will be introduced in January. The source confirmed the scant details of a Facebook post written by AOPA Senior VP of Media and Outreach Tom Haines from the […]

Santa Claus wears captain’s bars in the e-commerce economy but it’s some of the pilots who are getting gifts this holiday season. FedEx is offering its retirement-age captains as much as $110,000 in retention bonuses to keep working through this year’s busy time. Last year, FedEx and its competitor UPS had record years thanks to […]

I recently heard the following between Kansas City Center and an airliner. The airliner was trying to top some weather and had been granted an even altitude even though he was flying west, because he was too heavy to go any higher. Kansas City Center: “Airliner 123, how long ’til you can go up? I […]

AVweb‘s weekly news roundup found reports of recently released drone strike research, the launch of a mobile avionics and maintenance service, an improved propeller blade measuring system, a new flight animation system, a free safety webinar and a discussion of international pilot medical standards. The University of Dayton Research Institute recently released itslatest drone-strike test […]

FAA Approves Ultralight VTOL First of all, the FAA does NOT “approve” ultralight vehicles. The letter shown only states that in the FAA’s opinion, the craft appears to meet part 103 requirements. It either meets part 103 or it doesn’t. If it does, then the FAA is out of the picture. Mel Asberry Motorcycle gear […]