FAA

In an effort to spur adoption of ADS-B avionics ahead of the 2020 equipment mandate, the FAA yesterday announced a rebate program for owners of U.S.-registered piston airplanes — but as you might guess, there’s a catch. Once the incentive program goes into effect in September, the first 20,000 aircraft owners to equip with ADS-B […]

John, Dr. Williams is dead. I thought you’d want to know.” The news hit me like a thunderbolt. The caller was an FAA inspector. Just two weeks earlier, I had asked him to talk with Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams was a towering figure. He was a physician, a radiologist, and an Episcopalian priest. He was […]

The cost and hassle of complying with the FAA’s 2020 ADS-B Out mandate is vexing many aircraft owners, but quite a few of us are already enjoying the benefits of ADS-B In: real-time weather, Nexrad radar and traffic information, all for free. There are a number of feature-rich portable receivers on the market, like the […]

The FAA has deemed the B-29 known as Doc airworthy, handing over the airworthiness certificate for the historic airplane, the first flight of which is “imminent,” according to restoration group Doc’s Friends in Wichita, Kansas. “It’s been nearly 60 years since Doc has flown and 16 years since this majestic warbird arrived in Wichita to […]

The National Transportation Safety Board raised serious concerns over the FAA-proposed Part 23 Rewrite proposal, cautioning in comments on the recent notice of proposed rulemaking that the revised certification process for light airplanes could allow inferior designs to slip through the cracks, impacting safety. The NTSB’s concerns are quite similar to the warning about the […]

New rules proposed by the FAA could soon improve pilot certification and flight training in general aviation. The agency’s recently published notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) mainly addresses Part 61, which governs the certification of pilots, flight instructors and ground instructors at smaller flight schools. Proposed rule changes would allow pilots to complete more of […]

The FAA has started testing a drone detection system in New York airspace as it seeks high-tech ways to track down “rogue” drones around airports. The FAA and its government, industry and academia partners have joined forces to evaluate the drone detection technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Over the last two years, the […]

After my purgatory in West Chicago and three mostly great years in the Indianapolis FSDO, the FAA offered a transfer to Cincinnati. It was a bittersweet decision, and my boss, Jay Peterson, rather obliquely suggested I might want to stay put. He understood I was anxious to get back home, but he also knew the […]

When you took the exam to get your pilot certificate, you were asked questions that perhaps did not relate to the realities of everyday flying. You got the written test out of the way and promptly forgot the stuff that didn’t seem important. Now, with new test standards due out soon, there’s a solid link […]

The FAA announced the formation of an advisory committee to guide it on the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the national airspace, a group that will be led by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. The committee will help the FAA finalize hotly anticipated regulations for the commercial operation of drones in civil airspace, which […]