Mark Phelps

When Cirrus announced its FIKI-approval, company president Brent Wouters was able to boast that the newly equipped aircraft had an empty weight eight pounds lighter than its predecessor. That could be due, in part, to a new composite-based propeller hub from Hartzell that trims more than four pounds from previous units. That adds to the […]

This month’s issue of the American Bonanza Association magazine has some salient tips on night flying, courtesy of John Andrick of Nashua, New Hampshire (where winter nights are long — and cold). John is a flight instructor and an air traffic controller, as well as an adjunct professor at Daniel Webster College, the campus of […]

Under an STC received early this month by Flight Resource of Bloomer, Wisconsin, most larger single-engine Cessna piston models from the 180 taildragger through the 210 series are now eligible for retrofit with composite propellers from MT Propeller of Straubing, Germany. The lightweight propellers incorporate a steel leading edge and scimitar-shape blades with no life […]

When one of Republican strategist Karl Rove’s top IT operatives dies while flying his personal single-engine aircraft, it’s not hard to imagine that eyebrows will be raised among conspiracy theorists. But the preliminary NTSB report on the crash that took the life of pilot and sole occupant Michael Connell tends to point in a more […]

Not everyone was sorry to see 2008 go. Frasca International, manufacturer of simulators and flight training devices, celebrated its 50th anniversary year and closed out 2008 with sales of better than one of its systems per week. Founded in 1958, Frasca is headquartered in Urbana, Illinois. Last year also saw 11 new flight training devices […]

The following flight instructors qualified last month as ‘Masters’ under the criteria set by the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI). Of some 92,000 flight instructors in the United States, fewer than 700 have achieved Master Instructor status. The honor must be re-earned every two years, and is acquired through a process of continuing professional […]

With President-elect Obama bracing for a “sobering” jobs report, Cessna Chairman and CEO Jack Pelton acknowledged that his company would be facing layoffs, but would not comment on specific plans or numbers of workers who might be affected. Cirrus Design has called back most of the 500 or so employees idled by a December production […]

Following a two-hour flight in an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 last month, airline officials are excited about the prospects for the latest in biofuel. The so-called “second generation” of biofuels used in the test was refined and blended in the United States by Honeywell subsidiary UOP. Air New Zealand’s test aircraft flew with a […]

The old axiom for the self-employed is to “pay yourself first.” The same spirit could apply to flying airplanes. Do your best to take care of yourself before and during the flight, and you maximize your chances for a good return on your investment — in this case, a safe landing. It starts with flight […]

Use them early and often; that’s the message from the NTSB when it comes to activating deicing boots on your aircraft. The longstanding debate over so-called “ice-bridging” notwithstanding, the safety board recommends inflating the boots with as little as one-quarter inch of ice on the surface. Those who subscribe to the ice bridging theory believe […]