Rob Mark

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) today announced the opening of the fifth GAMA/Build A Plane Aviation Design Challenge. The annual competition uses aviation topics as methods to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills among U.S. high school students. As an incentive, GAMA said the first 100 high schools entering the competition receive […]

Textron Aviation began the week on uplifting news of Saturday’s successful 2-hour and 2-minute first flight of the company’s new Longitude super midsize business jet. The Longitude, announced four and a half years ago and unveiled at last year’s NBAA Convention in Las Vegas, departed Beech Field on the east side of Wichita, with experimental […]

Arthur Rosen decided to add ADS-B to the 62-year-old V-Tail Bonanza he’s been flying the past 20 years, taking advantage of the FAA’s $500 rebate program along the way. Rosen told Flying that although installation of the new Appareo Stratus ESGi equipment went pretty smoothly, certifying the equipment hasn’t gone well at all. At press […]

Space-exploration geeks with an idea to help NASA someday send vehicles to Mars and beyond are being sought by the space agency. NASA recently issued a call to U.S. citizens in private industry, academia and other government agencies for white papers that address a number of future space exploration challenges. Called the iTech Initiative, NASA’s […]

The marketplace for new technology aimed at experimental aircraft has evolved into a breeding ground for low-cost instrument options promoting the new FAA strategy of allowing the installation of non-TSO’d equipment in certified airplanes. For now, Wichita-based ultralight builder Belite Aircraft’s new electric turn coordinator can only be installed on experimental aircraft. But industry insiders […]

Tucson, Arizona-based Guardian Avionics on Tuesday received the first-ever FAA approval under the Non-Required Safety Enhancing Equipment (NORSEE) program to install noncertified products into certified aircraft. As outlined in PS-AIR-21.8-1602, Guardian is approved to mount all models of the Guardian Avionics iFDR panel mount line for the iPad and iPhone. The approval also allows all […]

Bombardier presented this year’s annual Safety Standdown award to the Honorable Robert L. Sumwalt III, Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, for his “outstanding commitment to aviation safety and his continuous efforts to develop more robust safety programs within the aviation industry.” Sumwalt has been a fierce advocate for improving safety in a variety […]

In a Sunday editorial, the LA Times took on an aviation-education role for the public in the greater Los Angeles area by chastising the Santa Monica City Council as it attempts to “make the airport [Santa Monica] so inhospitable and difficult to use — essentially ‘starving’ the airport of services — that tenants leave and […]

During the investigation into the Gulfstream GIV accident at Bedford, Massachusetts, in May 2014, the NTSB discovered the accident crew failed to perform a pre-takeoff flight control check. Investigators also learned that crews of the accident aircraft had failed to perform a similar standard pre-takeoff control check prior to the previous 175 takeoffs. Now, a […]

Bombardier’s popular Safety Standdown will celebrate its 20th year when the doors open Tuesday in Wichita, Kansas. The three-day conference will, as in past years, continue tackling the risks posed to aviation safety by everyday distractions. Safety Standdown often presents new perspectives on topics such as professionalism, crew resource management, aviation security, preventing collisions with […]