Mark Phelps

Visitors to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Atlanta in October got the first public look at the results of a major transformation from the original proof-of-concept PiperJet. Even the name has changed. It’s now the PiperJet Altaire, and the new look and functionality are much more jetlike than the original’s. The basics […]

Like a lot of aircraft owners, I have my list of airplane expenses divided into ‘gotta-do’ and ‘wanna-do’ items. And also like a lot of owners, I schedule annual inspections during the winter. So the holiday season is when I start revisiting the improvements I’d like to make on my venerable V-tail Bonanza. I won’t […]

According to an AOPA study, two thirds of student pilots view their flying as primarily recreational. That’s why Sporty’s Academy, the educational unit of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, believes its modular approach to flight training yields a 70 percent retention rate (starting with the second lesson), which it describes as more than 3.5 times the industry […]

It’s not the first time it’s happened, but the story is a shocker. Teenager Delvonte Tisdale, a participant in the Civil Air Patrol who probably should have known better, apparently stowed away in the wheel well of a Boeing 737 airliner headed from his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston. His remains were found […]

The buzz of light airplanes flying overhead is still a rare sound in China, but a new effort could resonate for general aviation in that country. A new FBO is opening at Zhuhai Airport, and Shuhai Tianyi Aviation Trading Company, the company behind it, has also ordered three Cirrus SR22s. Under the arrangement, Cirrus will […]

The FAA’s aircraft re-registration initiative has caught the attention of headline writers in the general media. “FAA loses track of 190,000 planes” was one. Naturally, the emphasis in the stories was on the potential threat to security. In fact, the larger concern is one of administrative housekeeping. Under the new rules, aircraft owners will have […]

I’ve carried several varieties of portable GPS navigators over the years, and of course none are approved as sole means of navigation for IFR operations. There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that portable navigators don’t incorporate the necessary RAIM (receiver autonomous integrity monitoring) technology for IFR certification. RAIM raises a […]

A bill passed by the U.S. Senate yesterday would increase tax benefits for buyers of new aircraft, and follow-on legislation would extend the time frame of those benefits even further. The so-called Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 has passed muster in the Senate, and will now go on to […]

Teledyne Technologies has sold its Continental Motors division to Technify Motors, a unit of AVIC International of China. The new owner plans to keep the company headquarters in Mobile, Alabama, where it has been since the 1960s. The deal was worth $186 million and includes Teledyne properties Mattituck Services, which will remain in Mattituck, Long […]

Though most of the world’s economy remains in the doldrums, such is not the case in the Middle East. And general aviation is riding the wave of prosperity there, as evidenced by the strong showing at this year’s Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) show this week. Numbers of exhibitors are up 40 percent compared with […]