Mark Phelps

Fly-in communities, where homeowners have access to a runway from hangars on their property, now face a threat from the FAA. Such communities depend on so called “through the fence” (TTF) access, and new security concerns have the FAA challenging airports that already have the practice well established, including clauses written into property deeds and […]

Teledyne Continental Motors is doing its part for economic recovery. The company issued a release early this week indicating it will keep a lid on prices for factory new and factory rebuilt engines. Improved efficiencies and “cooperation with our valued employees and vedors,” have allowed TCM to lower costs, and it intends to reinvest the […]

Sonex Aircraft hopes to launch the first flight of its SubSonex single-engine jet as soon as acceptable weather breaks in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (the company’s home base). Its Czech-built PBS TJ-100 engine was first run on Dec. 23, 2009, and was able to hit 100 percent power — about 240 pounds of thrust. It’s larger than […]

Cirrus Aircraft President Brent Wouters expects to return his company to profitability this year. Despite a 2009 that can best be described as challenging, Wouters also said the company is committed to continuing development of its SF50 single-engine jet. As funding ran short, work on the jet project was recently moved to the main Cirrus […]

Winter operations involve a lot of adjustments. Just getting to and from the runway becomes more of a factor in our planning, and requires some attention. Taxiways might be icy, leading to reduced steering and braking effectiveness. And just when we have less control where the rubber meets the road, winter winds are often stronger, […]

Humorist (and pilot) Jean Shepherd, of “The Christmas Story” fame, wrote that his family history revolved around which used car “the Old Man” was driving at the time — as in: Aunt Gertie had her gall bladder removed just after we got the Hupmobile. Flying Editor Emeritus Richard Collins similarly records family history in his […]

There’s not much time left, but if you’re in the enviable position of shopping for a new airplane, the government’s bonus depreciation tax benefit ought to stimulate your personal economy to make the leap before year end. And some manufacturers are sweetening the pot even further. Diamond Aircraft will match customer down payments of up […]

According to Airframer.com, there are 329 aviation vendors who were cheering the first flight of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner last week. The ultimate success of the long-delayed program would mean greater prosperity for parts suppliers who also support general aviation — providing greater financial stability and greater assurance of long-term fiscal viability. Among the suppliers who […]

Horror stories of passengers held on airliners for up to nine hours without food or water — and with non-functioning toilets — appear to be a thing of the past. On Monday, the Department of Transportation announced a new rule prohibiting airlines from holding domestic flights for more than three hours with passengers on board. […]

Airline passenger traffic typically increases about 5 percent per year, making this year’s declines that much more profound. According to numbers released by the International Civil Aviation Organization, international airline travel declined 4 percent this year, while domestic airline travel was down by about 1.8 percent, worldwide. Bucking the trend was the Middle East region, […]