Aviation News

In what has become the latest in a string of ATC infractions, the FAA has suspended an air traffic controller and manager after the controller was caught using a portable DVD player while on duty at Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center early Sunday morning. According to a statement released by the FAA, the controller […]

After the launch of three new airplanes, Phil Solomon, CEO at Tecnam North America, described last week’s AERO Friedrichshafen as “incredibly successful,” with a total of 42 airplanes sold during the four-day event. The three airplanes announced were the 11-seat P2012, four-seat PTwenty Ten and a new version of the popular P92 Eaglet, all designed […]

At AERO Friedrichshafen last week, German company Flight Design, maker of the popular light sport CS two-seater, unveiled its plans for its new four-seat model, the C4. The airplane will be certified by European aviation authorities (EASA) with reciprocal FAA certification to follow. First deliveries of the carbon fiber airplane are projected for 2013. On […]

With AERO Friedrichshafen thankfully moved a week back from the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In and featuring a format geared more toward pilots than airshow watchers, Europe’s most GA friendly aviation event enjoyed its best run yet. More than 33,000 aviation enthusiasts from around the world gathered in Germany for the 19th annual event, which wrapped […]

(April 2011) If the souls of the pilots whose untimely ends are chronicled in NTSB accident reports could be assembled for a focus group on accident prevention, some would say of their final flights, “Yes, I was really asking for it. I should have seen that accident coming from a mile away.” Others would still […]

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt made clear yesterday that he has had enough of air traffic controllers falling asleep during their shifts, and to get his point across he has vowed to start making personal visits to ATC facilities around the country starting next week. The final straw came Tuesday night when the lone tower controller […]

In a unique show of cooperation among competitors, representatives from 10 light sport aircraft manufacturers and dealers on their way home from Sun ‘n Fun flew their demos to Georgia and South Carolina last week to participate in the 2011 Southeast LSA Tour. Over the course of four days, the group made four stops for […]

Finally, Beechcraft G36 Bonanza pilots can fly with the peace of mind of having ice protection. The FAA has awarded a new Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the G36 to CAV Aerospace in Salina, Kansas, for its TKS Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI) system. The G36 STC is an amendment to CAV’s STC for the […]

Contracts designed to make greener, quieter airplanes awarded to industry and academic teams. Research teams from Boeing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cessna Aircraft Company and Northrop Grumman Systems have received a total of $16.5 million to develop technologies for quiet, more fuel efficient airplanes to enter service between 2030 and 2035. The time period […]

In a selection process reminiscent of the bidding for an Olympic host city, NASA on Tuesday announced the new retirement homes for the four remaining space shuttles, which have been carrying astronauts into space for three decades. The space shuttle Atlantis will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, which observers […]