Aviation News

Naval Air Station Brunswick (Maine) is now officially a civilian facility. The former military base was turned over this week as planned. In April, Massachusetts-based FlightLevel Aviation is set to open an FBO on the 990-acre site, and Kestrel Aircraft, led by Cirrus Design co-founder Alan Klapmeier, has already begun moving into the former submarine-patrol […]

Blocking a tail number from the online flight tracking programs could become more difficult, if not impossible for some. The Department of Transportation is reviewing the NBAA’s Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) policy this month, and hints that criteria for participating in the program could become far more restrictive. As it is now, anyone wishing […]

4G or not 4G? That is the question. Wide ranging broadband Internet access via portable devices would sure be great, but it could come at a high cost of GPS functionality. A plan to construct 40,000 broadband transmitters for the 4G broadband network could have a “disastrous” effect on GPS reception, according to a report […]

Record cold, snow and ice storms were as much a part of the pre-Super Bowl talk as were blitzes and cover packages. When snow avalanched off the roof of spanking new Cowboy Stadium, several workers were injured. Clearly, Dallas is not well prepared for this sort of weather challenge. For incoming aircraft, Dallas Love Field […]

The Senate Finance Committee approved reauthorization of the U.S. Airport and Airways Trust Fund (AATF) on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and the bill will probably be included in the FAA Reauthorization bill already before the Senate. The committee’s proposal includes an increase in jet fuel tax for general aviation aircraft to 35.9 cents per gallon from […]

Andrew Schmertz is starting with one Cirrus SR22 flying what he bills as “air limo” flights out of Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. He hopes to expand to as many as five aircraft in his fleet by the summer season, able to shuttle passengers, on demand, from nearby jumping off points to […]

“Relative stability in global economies and improving general business confidence” were two of the reasons Textron CEO Scott Donnelly expects 2011 to be a good one for Cessna and Bell. Textron is the parent company for the two iconic aviation brands, and Donnelly’s remarks came in the wake of strong numbers for the fourth quarter […]

Known worldwide as a legend in the game of golf — and industrywide as one of general aviation’s most iconic faces — voluntarily quit flying quietly last month, choosing not to re-up his medical. No worries on health issues for Arnie — he just decided to retire from flying the left seat of his Citation. […]

Last October the French magazine Jeune Afrique reported that the cause of the mysterious crash of a twin-turboprop L-410 Turbolet at Bandundu, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Aug. 25 had been revealed. According to the sole human survivor of the accident, a crocodile concealed in a “sports bag” stored at the back of the cabin […]

The old wisdom was that a thick airfoil would carry plenty of ice. It’s a folk tale based, perhaps, on innumerable stories of DC-3s from the early days of the airlines landing with thick coats of ice. The stories might be true, but the fact that DC-3s had chubby wings does not translate to aeronautical […]