Stephen Pope

The FAA is asking for comments on an airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Lycoming engines. The AD, 2017-NE-27-AD, which requires an inspection of connecting rods and replacement of affected connecting rod small end bushings, was prompted by reports of connecting rod failures resulting in uncontained engine failure and in-flight shutdowns. While the emergency AD became […]

Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’t07n2iN7TClvO6pAnDxrmg’,sig:’ZbvsBr5CFNfpGZ-REU4MFkio8Oo-RV43YKO1dLqVHC0=’,w:’650px’,h:’390px’,items:’693068786′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })}); Maybe now Bill Shuster, Donald Trump, Elaine Chao and Sam Graves will finally give up on their plan to remove air traffic control from the FAA and hand it over to a nonprofit corporation. The four main backers of the proposal received some devastating news yesterday as […]

The FAA yesterday proposed an emergency airworthiness directive that will require operators of Lycoming engines to inspect and possibly replace off-spec connecting rod small-end bushings in Lycoming engines installed or overhauled between November 2015 and February 2017. Publication of the emergency AD comes in the wake of Lycoming mandatory service bulletin SB 632 released last […]

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Robert Sumwalt’s nomination to a two-year term as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Sumwalt, who succeeds Christopher Hart, has served on the board since 2006. A pilot for Piedmont Airlines and US Airways for two decades, aviation groups praised his confirmation, which was widely expected. “Robert is […]

Theodore Robert Wright III, a young serial entrepreneur and pilot who gained notoriety for chronicling his larger-than-life flying exploits in photos on Facebook and Instagram, now faces the prospect of spending much of the rest of his life in prison after federal law enforcement officials charged the 32-year-old with multiple counts of insurance fraud. Federal […]

After Oshkosh last year, many people, including EAA chairman Jack Pelton, proclaimed it perhaps the best AirVenture ever. The show was well-run, hundreds of thousands of visitors poured through the gates and the weather was, for the most part, delightful. Most people we spoke with at AirVenture 2017 acknowledged that it’s another blockbuster show, with […]

Flight Design, the European manufacturer of light sport airplanes, has completed the sale of all major company assets to the German investment group Lift Holding, allowing for the resumption of work on the C4, a Part 23-certified four-seater with a projected selling price of $250,000. The newly realigned company, which entered receivership last year, will […]

Bill Shuster still thinks it’s a great idea, and apparently so does Sam Graves, but it’s starting to feel like the rest of Congress is ready to move on from the ill-fated idea of ATC privatization and focus on the real issue at hand: how to properly fund the FAA so the agency can complete […]

After a rough couple of years for Icon Aircraft, the California maker of the A5 light sport amphibian, the company now says it’s ready to turn its attention to high-rate production that should see as many as 200 airplanes produced and delivered in 2018. Icon handed over the first six airplanes in June and July […]

Demonstrating the performance and fuel efficiency of its SMA-powered compression-ignition Cessna 182 Skylane, Soloy Aviation Solutions flew nonstop to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from its home base in Olympia, Washington, a 1,485 nautical mile trip. The SMA SR305-230E engine consumed 80 gallons of jet-A for the flight, crewed by Soloy pilot Tony Uhl and […]