Mark Phelps

Lord Alan Sugar’s (could he be known as ‘my sweet lord?’) Amsair Aircraft Limited has taken delivery of the first Embraer Legacy 650. The U.K. company will base the aircraft at London Stansted Airport, and it will be operated by Titan Airways Executive, a charter company. The Legacy 650 is a follow-on version of the […]

A French criminal court has ruled that Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics are guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde supersonic transport (SST). All 109 on board and four on the ground died when a strip of metal that fell from one of Continental’s aircraft punctured one […]

Research has shown that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is no joke. When the days get shorter and it’s colder outside, people are more prone to depression, anxiety and a variety of other symptoms we used to call simply, the “winter blues.” A lot of the recommended remedies involve maximizing our exposure to natural light and […]

Former New York Mayor Fiorello Laguardia may have insisted that New York have its own airport (rather than relying on Newark, New Jersey), but his namesake facility is not exactly a towering tribute to his commitment to providing air service to the Big Apple. The Depression-era mayor was a champion of the emerging aviation industry, […]

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga), whose district includes the home of Gulfstream, will co-chair the House General Aviation Caucus when legislators reconvene in January. The year-old caucus is one of the largest in the House, with more than 120 members. Barrow will replace Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) as the co-chair of the caucus after Boyd failed in […]

Operators of Quest Aircraft Kodiak turboprop singles are now eligible to equip their aircraft with TKS ice-protection, and receive approval for flight into known icing (FIKI). The word couldn’t come at a better time, as the winter icing season is descending on North America with a vengeance this month. The big utility turboprop is used […]

When looking for signs of recovery in general aviation, one of the first indicators is what’s happening with used aircraft sales. But according to data supplied by JetNet and published by McGraw Hill, there’s not much insight to take away from September’s numbers, the latest ones available. Jet sales in North America were pretty consistent […]

When the Space X Dragon capsule re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere after its first (unmanned) flight next week, it will do so with the FAA’s blessing. Space Exploration Technologies Corp — known as SpaceX — is the first private entity to receive a license from the agency for its craft to re-enter the atmosphere. Next week’s […]

The FAA website’s top story reflects the agency’s commitment to speeding the transformation to NextGen. It explains that Performance Based Navigation Instrument Flight Procedures (IFPs) are the key to the benefits of switching from ground-based radar to satellite-based GPS. And based on recommendations from a task force assembled by RTCA, the FAA has launched what […]

The late Bill Wagstaff, a former colleague of mine, was a very smart man who loved aviation. But though he’d taken some lessons, he never pursued the actual flying part very far. It just wasn’t a priority to work through (and pay for) all of what it took to operate an airplane safely and with […]