Aviation News

The FAA has made a small but significant change to its controversial sleep apnea policy that has quelled some of the anger by overweight pilots over the proposal — but certainly not all of it. According to a draft revision of the policy, pilots who are identified by an aviation medical examiner as being at […]

Last week at Sun ‘n Fun ForeFlight co-founder and CEO Tyson Weihs gave Robert Goyer and me a preview of the latest enhancements and upgrades available for the popular mobile app. The first thing we noticed was how much crisper the VFR sectional chart on Tyson’s iPad mini looked — and it wasn’t due to […]

The United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), a group made up of FAA and industry representatives, shared some good news this week regarding helicopter accident statistics. The group analyzed accident data during two three-year periods and found that the accident record has improved by 21 percent. USHST compared accidents that occurred during the three-year period […]

Ever wished you could rent your airplane to strangers? OpenAirplane, the creator of a Zipcar-style aircraft rental network, announced a new service called Collaborative Aircraft Rental that aims to let aircraft owners rent their personal airplanes to qualified OpenAirplane members. The idea is to broaden the OpenAirplane network of available aircraft while allowing owners to […]

Beechcraft celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the King Air Model 90 with cake at the company’s Sun ‘n Fun exhibit and a fly-over at the Beech factory in Wichita, Kansas. The first flight of the King Air on January 20, 1964, started a remarkable production run for a remarkable airplane that […]

Here’s an idea for a reality TV show we’d be sure to DVR: A pilot, a chef and a treasure hunter head off in an airplane to visit the coolest small airports across the country, sampling the food at the airport restaurants, meeting interesting airport characters and discovering the incredible airplanes and historic items inside […]

Embry-Riddle flight students will continue training in Cessna 172s for years to come after the university signed a long-term purchase agreement for 57 Skyhawks as part of a multi-year agreement. Cessna said 29 aircraft will be delivered to ERAU this year and the remaining 28 next year. The fleet will replace the Cessna 172s currently […]

Lancair has introduced a new option for the Evolution turboprop kit airplane called “rough service landing gear,” or RSLG for short. The new gear allows pilots to land the four-seat composite airplane at airports with unpaved runways without fear of damaging the gear. The new landing gear option has wide 12-ply Goodyear tires, which are […]

Avidyne’s long-awaited multifunction navigator, the IFD540, is nearing the finish line, and Flying was first to fly the new box. I went up with Avidyne flight test engineer Steve “Jake” Jacobson at Sun ‘n Fun 2014 to test out the new product. The IFD540 — that’s right, “540” is 10 more than 530, the number […]

Embraer Executive Jets has enjoyed a very successful introduction of its Phenom line of light jets. Only a little more than five years after the Brazilian airplane maker introduced the Phenom 100, it has recently delivered the 300th version of the model. “We are very grateful to our Phenom 100 customers, with whom we share […]