Aviation News

Though he steadfastly defended the certification of the Eclipse 500, FAA associate administrator Nicholas Sabatini nevertheless promised Congress the agency will improve its certification program for very light jets. The agency acknowledged that its procedures for certifying the Eclipse twinjet have shown themselves to be “inadequate to address the advanced concepts introduced on this aircraft.” […]

It’s been a rollercoaster week for Eclipse and its Russian partner European Technology and Investment Research Center (ETIRC). On the upside, the partners announced they have gained approval and financing for their proposed European production facility in Ulyanovsk, Russia. The Russian State Bank Vnesheconombank supervisory board approved construction of the factory. The board is chaired […]

The Cessna 162 SkyCatcher nonconforming prototype crashed last Thursday during a test flight. The FAA reported that the developmental light sport aircraft was performing a stall series at 10,000 feet when it entered an unrecoverable flat spin. The pilot bailed out at about 5,000 feet and escaped without injuries. Information on the airplane’s weight and […]

WSI’s online weather service, Pilotbrief Online (PBO) Pro, is a fabulous new version of the airport-based kiosk-style service we pilots have come to know so well. With a host of features designed to make your preflight planning easier and safer, Pilotbrief Online Pro offers a package of weather and planning features you can’t find anywhere […]

Since last June, more than 80,000 visits have been recorded on the crew briefing site for Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Consistently one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, Teterboro is also located within some of the most complex and congested airspace. To help pilots negotiate arrivals and departures involving Teterboro, the […]

Investors, employees and customers continue to sift through news of devastating developments surrounding insurance giant American International Group-better known as AIG. Following yet another quarter of steep losses, the company has accepted an $85 billion government bailout in exchange for a reported 80 percent stake in ownership. Leading up to this development earlier this week, […]

Unison Industries has revised service bulletins on its Slick magnetos and is currently shipping kits to enable compliance with the revised SBs. Service bulletins SB2-08A and SB3-08A are revisions of earlier bulletins. For affected Slick- and LASAR-brand magnetos (serial numbers from 0610XXXX to 0804XXXX), installing the kits will constitute a terminating action for the SBs. […]

The Department of Transportation yesterday issued a report sharply critical of the FAA’s certification procedures for the Eclipse 500 very light jet. The FAA had already publicly announced that its own team of inspectors found no substantive fault with the certification process. A hearing yesterday before the House Aviation Subcommittee included testimony to the effect […]

The Texas Supreme Court has denied Lycoming’s appeal in a six-year legal contest over crankshaft failures. Lycoming appealed a 2005 ruling against Interstate Southwest, a Texas-based subcontractor that had supplied crankshafts for Lycoming engines. Some of the crankshafts failed, causing accidents and some deaths, but the court ruled that Interstate Southwest had manufactured the parts […]

The day after vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin wowed the country with her address, fact checkers challenged her account of how she disposed of her predecessor’s private jet as a cost cutting measure. Referring to the previous Alaska governor’s state-funded 1984-vintage Westwind II, Palin said, “That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on […]