Mark Phelps

Economics be darned, Cessna is on track with new product development at all levels. Its Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft is finalizing its test program, with certification and first deliveries scheduled for later this year. The company has incorporated extensive ground vibration testing for the composite airframe, even though it is not required, to […]

No pilot could possibly reflect on the one-in-a-million emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River without imagining himself or herself in the pilot’s seat. We all hope we could remain as calm as the heroic pilots and crew that day. We also hope we have prepared ourselves as completely as we can for this, or […]

John Winant, the first president of the (then) National Business Aircraft Association, died at his home in Massachusetts January 14. The former Sprague Electric vice president was 85. Winant is remembered as the driving force that took NBAA (now the National Business Aviation Association) from 824 member companies to close to 3,000. An original member […]

With some $3 billion earmarked for airport and aviation infrastructure improvements by the incoming Obama administration, general aviation could expect to receive better than one-third of the funding. That translates to more than $1 billion for GA. The $3 billion figure comes from an executive summary of a House Democrats’ stimulus package released January 15 […]

Have you ever noticed that for every cliché, there seems to be another one that directly contradicts the first one? “Out of sight, out of mind” vs. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Or more to my point; “Haste makes waste” vs. “He who hesitates is lost.” Of the last two, pilots are often told […]

If there was any doubt that the current financial crisis is hitting general aviation hard, the latest round of announcements from manufacturers should reinforce the bad news. The new year will get off to a lousy start for some 2,000 employees at Cessna. In a memo to employees, company management announced a second round of […]

Over the holiday period, a reported several hundred XM Weather subscribers were unable to access the service through their Garmin handheld GPS navigators (service to my personal GPS 396 remained unaffected). Garmin has issued a software update to address the issue, and it is available as a free download to customers, as are all software […]

French industrial conglomerate Daher has completed its acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Socata, the Tarbes, France-based manufacturer of the TBM 850 single-engine turboprop. The marriage is seen as a win-win, since Daher stands to further its reach into the aerospace field. The company already has involvement in aerospace, automotive, defense and nuclear industries. […]

Still facing reduced production (eight aircraft per week from 16), Cirrus had some good news in the form of FAA approval for flight into known icing (FIKI). In a press ‘Webinar’ on Monday, company management also outlined a series of marketing strategies for the coming year, including defining a series of option-package levels (S, GS […]

An Indianapolis money manager, faced with financial setbacks and a pending divorce, might have tried to fake his death after reporting an inflight emergency to ATC and parachuting from his Piper PA46 over Alabama. The airplane crashed more than 200 miles away, near Milton, Florida. Alabama local authorities say a man identified as 38-year-old pilot […]