FAA

With the FAA’s ADS-B deadline looming 41 months from now, some aircraft operators are hoping the agency deadline will slip, offering everyone more breathing time to schedule the work. Contrary to the laws of supply and demand, many of those same operators are also hoping that equipment and installation costs will decline. A low-cost, easy-to-install […]

When GPS first entered general aviation cockpits nearly two decades ago, skepticism ran amok — trusting the “magic” of satellite navigation took time. Those flight educators who had a firm grasp of the real conundrum to come knew then what we face today: GPS is good, sometimes almost too good. There is growing weakness in […]

When inspectors met Orville and Wilbur for that first ramp check on the sands of Kitty Hawk, the brothers ran them off and then complained to the government because these inspector guys didn’t know much about flying machines. FAA management opened a file on the complaint, convened working groups, assigned committees, consulted with cost analysts, […]

Just two days before the FAA’s current extension expires, the Senate passed the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016, a measure that will authorize FAA operations through September 2017. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law ahead of the FAA’s July 15 cutoff. A huge win for general aviation, […]

Greensboro, North Carolina-based Honda Aircraft Company has achieved the final level of U.S. aircraft certification for the HA-420 HondaJet, snagging the coveted FAA Production Certificate for the light twinjet. The new approval allows the company to produce, flight test and issue airworthiness certificates to its HondaJets, a process that has previously required some involvement by […]

The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the proposed revision of Part 23, published by the FAA in March, is a remarkable document. During an election campaign in which the inability of Washington to get anything done is a central theme, the NPRM is a libertarian’s fever dream of deregulation. It’s hard to imagine how […]

In an effort to encourage the use of non-required safety equipment in general aviation airplanes and helicopters, the FAA has taken further steps to make the installation of such equipment less expensive to the end user. Previously all equipment installed in the airplane had to through arduous certification processes, making the barriers of bringing new […]

A deal being brokered by the House and Senate to keep the lights turned on at the FAA beyond July 15 includes third-class medical reform language, which has already passed in the Senate but has been held up in the House over the contentious fight to privatize ATC. GA forces remain staunchly opposed to the […]

A plane flown by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe ran off the runway after making a forced landing Sunday night in Ketchum, Oklahoma. The 81-year-old Oklahoma senator, who walked away from the incident unharmed, reportedly made the unscheduled landing in his aerobatic Harmon Rocket taildragger after encountering severe weather. Inhofe was flying in tandem with another […]

While most pilots understand the inherent dangers of operating a motor vehicle — airplane included — while attempting to fire off a quick text message, the FAA says text-based ATC, also known as controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC), is the wave of the future and is taking hold at airports around the United States. The agency […]