Aviation News

“Please don’t shoot the messenger,” is the plea from the support team at Hilton Software, developers of the popular WingX series of iPad and iPhone apps for aviation. Last week, Hilton sent out notices to subscribers warning them not to upgrade to iOS 7, the newest operating system from Apple. Some customers immediately fired back […]

Sunstate Aviation in Phoenix took delivery of the 100th Quest Kodiak turboprop single last week. In a ceremony at Kodiak’s factory in Sandpoint, Idaho, Quest CEO Sam Hill said, “Since the beginning, we have been committed to building a rugged, reliable aircraft that provides operators the versatility to accomplish any mission.” Sunstate founder Mike Watts […]

That no-strings dollar-a-gallon fuel you’ve been hearing about has a few catches now, forced by rumors and reports of commercial operators planning to game the system. When Redbird Skyport (KHYI) in San Marco, Texas, announced a couple of weeks ago that it was going to sell fuel for a dollar a gallon throughout the month […]

Several reports claim David Riggs, a pilot with a checkered past who lost his FAA license not once but twice, is missing after his Lancair 320 crashed in a lake outside Shenyang, China. Riggs’ passenger, an 18-year-old Chinese translator, died in the crash. The Los Angeles Times reported that Riggs took off in rainy conditions […]

The current issue of FAA Safety Briefing targets aviation citizenship among general aviation pilots. It urges us to show our responsibilities toward fellow pilots by sharing values, customs and culture with the rest of the aviation community. Feature articles in the September/October 2013 issue include primers on developing intervention strategies for fellow pilots who may […]

More than 100 people recently turned out for the opening of a fuel processing facility in Lafayette, Indiana, built to produce a new unleaded high-octane aviation gasoline called 100SF. Designed as a drop-in replacement for 100LL, the fuel can be safely used in GA piston airplanes, said officials from Swift Fuels LLC, based in the […]

A meeting today of an industry-government advisory committee formed by the FAA Administrator Michael Huerta will set priorities in anticipation of a variety of budget scenarios. Implications of this fall’s coming budget battles could weigh even more heavily on aviation infrastructure than initially expected. At risk are core elements of the NextGen air traffic modernization […]

Yves Rossy, aka Jetman, took to the skies at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show, which took place this past weekend in Reno, Nevada. This, the second show during Jetman’s U.S. visit after AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, presented some new challenges for the man who straps a jet-powered carbon-Kevlar wing to his body, […]

The FAA announced changes that would exempt some pilots from having to complete a biennial flight review. Open for public comment through October 16, the proposal posted in the Federal Register this week seeks to address what the FAA says it now views as an error in the list of exceptions to meet the 24-month […]

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the goal of a new FAA project is to place no less than a billion gallons of alternative jet fuel into service by 2018. To that end, the agency has established a Center of Excellence (COE) to research potential fuel technologies. Funding will amount to $4 million per year for […]