Mark Phelps

An audit conducted by the FAA has determined that the money the agency has invested in new air traffic control equipment has been well spent; but the buildings that house the equipment “are aging and showing signs of deteriorating physical conditions.” The average expected useful life of one of the buildings is 25 to 30 […]

Honda is assembling its first conforming prototype HondaJet at its original facility at Piedmont Triad Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. But future work on the project will soon move to the recently completed 400,000-square-foot research and development facility. Honda reports it still expects to deliver the first of its unique over-the-wing engine jets in 2010.

I once asked a pilot I know whether he considers using oxygen as a precautionary measure; say on a night approach after a long day’s flying. “That’s for [derogatory feline reference],” he said. I like to think he was joking, at least a little. The USAF requires pilots to use oxygen when flying above 5,000 […]

The hard economic times have not dampened the spirit of holiday giving at Hawker Beechcraft Corp (HBC). The company’s employees donated a total of $50,000 to the Wichita Children’s Home last week. HBC supplier Rockwell Collins kicked in an additional $10,000 to the home, which has been in operation since 1888. Over the past five […]

Kits are now available for retrofitting enhanced vision technology on existing Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft. Enhanced Vision Systems using this hardware have been available from the Cirrus factory since this summer. Now, Forward Vision and One Sky Aviation have teamed to develop FAA Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) #SA02329AK for installation of the EVS-100 sensor. […]

Garmin’s GTX 330 and GTX 33 transponders have received FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval to supply Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out (ADS-B Out) data, an industry first, according to Garmin. With the new capability, the Garmin transponders are eligible to provide precise positional information to air traffic control and also to other ADS-B-equipped aircraft in […]

The National Business Aviation Association and the Asian Business Aviation Association jointly announced last week they were canceling this year’s Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (ABACE) scheduled for February 11-12. The NBAA, which also co-sponsors international shows in Europe and Latin America, said that, with so many companies facing serious financial times, it believes […]

Alan Klapmeier says clearly that he will continue to be involved day-to-day, and to “guide the direction” of Cirrus Design, the company he and his brother Dale founded. In a management shift scheduled to become effective on February 1, current chief operating officer Brent Wouters (formerly chief financial officer) will become CEO, and Klapmeier will […]

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my car alongside the north end of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey listening in on the tower frequency. Several of the pilots on the ILS to Runway 19 were asking for wind checks, and the tower’s answer was consistent — 240 degrees at seven knots. No big […]

With the demise of NextGen test platform DayJet, fractional operator NetJets has taken on the role. The pioneer of fractional ownership signed an agreement with the FAA this month to run test programs on what is being called the air traffic control system of the future. NetJets will equip part of its fleet of more […]