Recent Updates

According to GAMA statistics, there are 611,000 active pilots in the United States and only 223,000 registered general aviation aircraft. Even allowing for air taxi airplanes, clubs and partnerships, this means that lots of us are flying airplanes that we don’t own. Some of us rent from local flight schools, some borrow from friends. Few […]

AVweb’s search of news in aviation found award announcements from Angel Flight and AOPA, and scholarship announcements from the Ninety-Nines/EAA and Whirly-Girls International. Angel Flight South Central announced that Board Chairperson Dianna Stanger has been awarded the coveted Endeavor Award for leadership and service in Public Benefit Flying. As a volunteer pilot with Angel Flight […]

Boeing’s first 727 jet to be produced took a final flight Wednesday after 25 years of sitting at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The airliner had been donated to Seattle’s Museum of Flight in 1991, but it was dismantled before undergoing a long, volunteer-driven restoration at Paine. Wednesday’s flawless 10-minute flight to Seattle marked the […]

Seeker Aircraft of Albuquerque, New Mexico, will manufacture its light observation aircraft in the U.S. to accommodate growing demand, the company announced Wednesday.Seeker‘sSB7L-360A and SB7L-360A2 aircraft have only been manufactured in Australia, where Seabird Aviation Australia operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Seeker Aircraft.Erickson Inc. of Portland, Oregon, will be the North American manufacturer. […]

Only one person on Earth can claim the title “The Last Man on the Moon,” and a new documentary film by that name takes a look at how Gene Cernan has been affected by his spaceflight experience. Cernan, 81, worked with independent filmmakers Mark Craig and Mark Stewart, from the UK. Craig “deftly creates a […]

Lockheed Martin will create a preliminary design for a low-sonic-boom supersonic X-Plane, NASA officials announced on Monday in Washington, D.C. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden noted it’s almost 70 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1. “Now we’re continuing that supersonic X-plane legacy with this preliminary design award for a quieter […]

Heli-Expo, the annual event hosted by Helicopter Association International, opened in Louisville, Kentucky, this week, with about 700 exhibitors and 60 helicopters on display. Two aircraft being shown for the first time are Bell’s flight-test vehicles for the 525 Relentless and the 505 Jet Ranger X programs. Bell officials said they have nearly 80 letters […]

In a market rich with tablet and smartphone navigation apps, Garmin has announced a new, purpose-built portable GPS navigator, the aera 660. It’s the company’s first dedicated aviation portable since the aera 796 appeared in 2011. Following the trend in smartphones, the aera 660 has a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen and more interface capability than any […]

Tarkio, Missouri, isn’t the sort of place someone like Rep. Bill Shuster would normally visit but sometimes a politician just has to do what a politician has to do. I suspect the urbane and well-connected Pennsylvania congressman, chairman of the prestigious Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, dug in his closet for a pair of old shoes […]

Letter of the Week:Supersonic Adjustments Just wanted to correct Paul Bertorelli on Capt. Eric “Winkle” Brown’s obit, where you repeat the widespread myth that the XS-1 had to be modified to incorporate the M.52 tail in order to break the sound barrier. Brown RN was the pilot designate for the M.52 and wrote a book, […]