Mark Phelps

Dr. Peggy Chabrian, President and founder of Women in Aviation International (WAI) has been selected by the National Aeronautic Association as winner of this year’s Frank G. Brewer Trophy. The annual award goes to the individual, group of individuals or organization “for contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States.” Dr. Chabrian, […]

Two recent news events have lifted pilots’ hopes for restoration of Meigs Field as an airport. President Obama has pledged to include repaving runways to his plans to boost infrastructure spending; and the man who unpaved it in the first place announced he will not seek re-election as Mayor. Richard Daley, as Mayor of Chicago, […]

Restrictions on foreign students receiving recurrent training could be easing up. This week, the Transportation Security Administration is expected to reduce the bureaucratic hurdles currently in place. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, foreign pilots with type ratings in aircraft more than 12,500 pounds MTOW (maximum takeoff weight) needed to complete a vetting process every […]

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) has announced plans to ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to look into the issue of unfair competition in business aircraft production. His state is home to Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft and Learjet, and Brownback has suggested that foreign competitors — specifically Embraer of Brazil — have enjoyed government subsidies in developing […]

President Obama addressed the nation on Labor Day with an infrastructure renewal program that included significant plans for aviation. The plan, which will span the next six years, would involve extensive overhauls of highways, bridges and other infrastructure, but also include restoring “150 miles of runways” and advancing “a next-generation air traffic control system to […]

This week’s National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada will have more than the spectacle of high-torque piston power on display. Though not involved in the actual races, Hawker Beechcraft’s Premier 1A business jet will perform a series of four fly-bys in front of the air race crowds. At the controls will be former NASA […]

There are some A-B-Cs of radio procedure and technique that might have gotten lost in the cobwebs of your memory. It could be that you’ve picked up some bad habits; or lost touch with some of your better ones. If a little brush-up is in order, try whipping out the Aeronautical Information Manual — aka […]

The FAA recognizes that pilots of conventional aircraft can have dangerous difficulty transitioning to Light Sport Aircraft (LSA). Light aircraft react differently from heavier, more powerful GA aircraft, and have different vulnerabilities based on their low wing loading and other factors. But the agency is in a logjam on how to approve training in such […]

There is no such thing as “normal” for new business jet sales. It’s usually a cycle of extreme highs and deep lows, with occasional periods when the market can’t seem to decide which of those two to choose. According to Bombardier Aerospace, the painful debacle from the past two years’ economic slowdown is showing signs […]

Current security rules permit up to 48 general aviation flights per day to Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA). But not even close to that many operations actually take place, even though restrictions have been relaxed since the airport was all but closed to GA after the September 11 attacks. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) […]