Stephen Pope

Many aircraft owners will soon be able to install non-TSO’d avionics in their Part 23 certified airplanes in a development that should be a boon to pilots looking to upgrade their panels on the cheap. It’s being hailed as a “breakthrough” by EAA and the FAA (and it really is) but the blockbuster news also […]

Daher, maker of the TBM 900 single-engine turboprop, unveiled the newest model in its of line business turboprops on Tuesday. But don’t expect to be able to walk over to the Daher exhibit at Sun ‘n Fun for a gander at the new TBM 930. The latest TBM model with Garmin G3000 touch-screen avionics is […]

Cessna Aircraft is making angle-of-attack standard equipment in the 172 Skyhawk, making it the first Part 23-certified production piston airplane to come from the factory with the technology. Cessna selected the Safe Flight SCc angle-of-attack system for the Skyhawk, and is making the product an option in the 182 Skylane and 206 Turbo Stationair. Based […]

Piper Aircraft continues to find success in the flight training market, the most recent evidence coming today at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida, with the announcement that UND Aerospace has placed an order for 112 piston singles and twins. The deal, which includes a mix of Piper Archers and Seminoles, calls for deliveries to […]

Boeing plans to cut up to 8,000 jobs this year to reduce costs and stay competitive with Airbus amid softening demand for the 747 and 777. The world’s biggest plane maker said it will slash as many as 4,000 jobs by midyear, with cuts coming first from attrition as employees retire or leave for other […]

Preparing for the day when 100LL avgas will be outlawed in America, the FAA has selected two unleaded fuels — one from Swift Fuels and one from Shell — for further testing. Flight trials and rig testing of the new fuel blends, selected as part of the Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative (PAFI) to find an […]

The FAA will allow Cirrus Aircraft to forego inflight testing of the SF50 Vision Jet’s whole-airframe ballistic parachute, saying such tests would incur “an unnecessary expense” while posing “inherent danger” to the test pilot. In a notice of proposed conditions issued recently, the FAA noted that unlike the BRS parachutes in the SR20 and SR22 […]

It’s a time-honored aviation tradition that suddenly appears on the brink of elimination. New student pilot application requirements that take effect on April 1 will prevent new pilots from soloing on their 16th birthday. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is asking the FAA to remedy what it calls an “unfortunate consequence” of the new […]

(function(d, s, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) return; var js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ‘//cdn4.wibbitz.com/static.js’; d.getElementsByTagName(‘body’)[0].appendChild(js); }(document, ‘script’, ‘wibbitz-static-embed’)); Aerobatic pilot Spencer Suderman is probably still a little dizzy after his recent stunt of completing 98 inverted spins (no, that’s not a typo) in his Sunbird S1X biplane, easily breaking his own previous […]

Uh oh, airline pilots. You’re probably in for tougher TSA checks after a JetBlue flight attendant allegedly tried to smuggle 68 pounds of cocaine through security at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday as she arrived to board a flight to New York. 31-year-old Marsha Reynolds was nabbed by TSA agents after being pulled aside […]