Stephen Pope

Major airworthiness directives related to aircraft systems aren’t all that uncommon, but a new AD issued by the FAA yesterday that calls for the replacement of the primary flight displays in certain Boeing 737 and 777 airliners raises eyebrows not just for what must be replaced but also the reason why. The FAA on October […]

The FAA says air traffic levels at Chicago O’Hare were the busiest in the country yesterday as technicians continue around-the-clock work to restore computer systems at the Chicago En Route Center in Aurora, Illinois, that were badly damaged by fire last Friday. Officials are closely monitoring weather forecasts for the Chicago area for the next […]

As seasoned recreational pilots we sometimes forget just how little about general aviation our passengers really know and understand. Many of our right-seaters probably think flying in a light airplane is little different from what they experience on the airlines. From their time flying United or Delta, they know the drill is to sit down, […]

Air traffic levels were slowly returning to normal in the skies over Chicago after a fire on Friday morning at a busy Air Route Traffic Control Center put a halt to all area arrivals and departures, leading to the cancellations of more than 3,500 flights. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has ordered a 30-day review of […]

How did a highly advanced avionics system built for multimillion-dollar business jets wind up in the cockpit of a stock Beech Bonanza? Sorry, the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck isn’t a new option coming soon from Beechcraft. Instead, the Bonanza featured in the video below is serving as a flying test bed for […]

The FAA’s progress on ADS-B implementation isn’t going nearly as well as the agency would like us all to believe, according to a scathing report released yesterday by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General. Despite completing installations of 634 ADS-B ground towers** “on time and on budget,”** the DOT report says the FAA has identified […]

When Steve Allen, a highly respected Northern California ag pilot with 26,000 accident free hours, crashed his Rockwell S-2R into a whisper-thin, barely visible galvanized steel wind observation tower on January 11, 2011, a dark and sickening secret about personal greed and avarice was exposed for all the world to see. The $6.7 million wrongful […]

A highly critical report released yesterday by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General outlining serious shortcomings with the FAA’s progress on ADS-B is embarrassing for the agency, coming as it does on the heels of pronouncements that the $6.5 billion program is progressing just fine and the 2020 ADS-B mandate is a sure-fire, locked-and-loaded firm […]

Aerion Corp., the company that has been working for more than a decade to bring a supersonic business jet to market, will receive technical and certification support from Airbus in its quest to fly the revolutionary would-be airplane before the decade is out. For its trouble Airbus will receive access to Aerion’s proprietary natural laminar […]

Aspen Avionics has received FAA certification for the VFR version of its Evolution primary flight display, billed as the first glass panel upgrade designed specifically for pilots flying under visual flight rules. Why offer a VFR-only PFD? Aspen says its market research shows VFR pilots and non-current IFR pilots represent over 50 percent of the […]