Recent Updates

Congress approved $16.3 billion for the FAA’s current fiscal year on Friday, along with tax breaks including another extension of bonus depreciation for capital investments including aircraft. The bonus depreciation measure allows businesses to write off as much as 50 percent of the value of equipment depending on when it was bought and put into […]

It’s always amusing when the hardworking daily press gets wind of an aviation-related story that’s trending out there where the busses don’t run. Such was the case Thursday when several outlets picked up the announcement from Terrafugia that its flying car had been approved for test flights in the U.S. “The FAA Just Approved Test […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news around the world found a partnership between Envoy Air and ATP Flight School, new features for the Garmin Pilot app, EASA engine certification for the Bell 505 helicopter, and national recognition for two aerospace organizations. Garmin is bringing enhanced flight plan filing capabilities to Garmin Pilot, which now incorporates the […]

The Senate has passed the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2) and the next step is for the House to consider it. The Senate version passed unanimously less than a week after it was sent to the full Senate by the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The bill had strong support in the Senate, […]

The small-airplane industry has been eagerly awaiting changes in the FAA certification rules for several years, but GAMA President Pete Bunce said today the FAA has failed to meet today’s deadline, set by Congress, for issuing a proposed rule. “It is very disappointing that [FAA officials] have not found ways to comply with the law […]

Despite our cynical belief that it would never get it done before Christmas, the FAA announced on Monday that its new drone registration program for all but the smallest drones will be in place next week. After we’ve registered, we’ll let you know how it works. But in the meantime, we’ve given the FAA a […]

At NBAA 2015, the star of the static display was a 50-year-old piston aircraft widely considered to be the first true business airplane. Jay Duckson of Central Business Jets showed us the Howard 500. view on YouTube

MITRE Corporation has put a $100,000 bounty on misbehaving drones through a contest aimed at bringing them down. The not-for-profit think tank, which does a lot of government-sponsored research, says it’s “working with multiple federal agencies” to come up with system(s) that can detect small drones that might pose a threat and then force them […]

AVweb’s search of aviation news around the world found announcements from Flying Eyes Sunglasses, Piper Aircraft, Just Aircraft, and ForeFlight. Flying Eyes Sunglasses of Austin, Texas, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 for its new line of products. Flying Eyes began when Dean Siracusa, a private pilot, could no longer stand the headaches […]

Like spilled red wine soaking into a white tablecloth, the meme that we live in an age of fear seems to be an indelible idea. I would like to state two things for the record, however. One, I think that whatever fear exists is mostly a product of hysterical cable news coverage. And second, speaking […]