| Follow Us On: |  |  | By Stephen Pope — As part of a broad initiative begun five years ago to improve aviation's "safety culture," the FAA is encouraging air traffic controllers to report operational errors and mistakes without fear of punishment or reprisal. The change is leading to an increase in reported errors but, the...[ more] By Stephen Pope — Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has won the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy, one of the aerospace industry's most prestigious annual awards, by beating out a slate of other noteworthy finalists that included the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, the Gamera human-powered...[ read more and see photos] By Bethany Whitfield — Just a few months after EASA granted approval to GE Aviation's new H80 turboprop engine, the FAA has given the engine the green light as well. With FAA type certification now in hand, the 800 horsepower H80 is cleared for use on the Thrush 510G crop duster, which...[ more] By Robert Goyer — The shared ownership market got a new entry recently when Atlanta (PDK) based Ascension Air launched its Cirrus shared ownership service. Ascension Air offers eighth shares in new Cirrus SR22s at remarkably competitive rates. According to Ascension Air, pilots can...[ more] By Bethany Whitfield — A lawsuit filed last week by the environmental protection group Friends of the Earth is drawing renewed attention to the debate over leaded avgas, prompting a number of aviation industry leaders to speak out in defense of the industry's progress on the issue. The...[ more] Avemco Owned Aircraft Insurance
Get A Quote Avemco.com. By Pia Bergqvist — The Blue Ash Airport (KISZ) outside Cincinnati, Ohio, will close this summer, if the city of Cincinnati has its way. In a statement issued on March 8, city manager Milton Doheny revealed that "the city administration is providing notice to the FAA, the city of Blue Ash, and the current...[ more] By Stuart Stein — Where can you see Virgil "Gus" Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft, touch a Redstone Nuclear Warhead and fill up on a charcoal grilled Cowboy cut bone-in rib eye steak? The answer is Hutchinson, Kansas. The "Salt City" and Wichita's little brother is...[ read more and see photos] By Stephen Pope — If there's anything that the FAA's latest aviation industry forecast proves, it's that you can make the numbers paint just about any picture you want them to, especially when you're guessing using assumptions about what might happen 20 years from now. For instance, what if I told you that...[ more] Start Pac® Portable Power Units Superior Technology. Superior Support. Click here to learn about all our products. How does a $1,000 gift certificate toward any King Schools course of your choosing sound? To enter the giveaway, simply put your pilot knowledge to the test with these three video-based quiz questions. Who knows, those three questions could put a $1,000 gift certificate in your hands! [ take the quiz here] By Bethany Whitfield — Wing-walker Todd Green, who was killed in front of thousands of spectators last August when he fell from a Boeing Stearman during an attempted helicopter transfer, let go of the airplane too...[ more] Flying reader John Carpenter recently stopped by Smyth Wythe Airport Commission at Mountain Empire Airport in a Cessna 172M. Here's what he has to say about the experience: "Very special trip — wife celebrated her 50th in Savannah. Weather was great until we hit Virginia. Landed exactly...[ more] By Pia Bergqvist — The traffic pattern around an airport keeps the flight paths of airplanes in the vicinity predictable. By following the same track, it is easier for pilots to see other airplanes approaching to land. But the safety and efficiency of the traffic flow is dependent on the pilots in the...[ more] |  | Tip of the Week Sponsored by The Titusville event held over the weekend drew famed warbirds and aviation enthusiasts alike. Check out some of the rare aircraft that turned out for the air show.
View the photo gallery here.   | |  By Stephen Pope If there's anything that the FAA's latest aviation industry forecast proves, it's that you can make the numbers paint just about any picture you want them to, especially when you're guessing using assumptions about what might happen 20 years from now. For instance, what if I told you that the number of student pilots in the U.S. at the end of 2010 increased by 64.8 percent, skyrocketing from around 72,000 in 2009 to more than 119,000 one year later. Unless you've been in a coma for the last decade, you'd immediately realize there's a problem with the data. In this case, the huge spike occurred simply because the FAA two years ago decided to increase the validity of student pilot certificates from 36 months to 60 months. The FAA also predicts the number of piston aircraft in the U.S. will decline from a total of 159,007 in 2010 to 151,685 by 2023 before rebounding slightly to 155,395 by 2032. That's a big decline from previous forecasts, which had projected fleet increases across the board. Again, a change in the assumptions the FAA uses in its forecast is to blame. At a Transportation...[ more]  By Robert Goyer When I read the headline from Icon Aircraft: "A5 Achieves Historic Safety Milestone," I was curious to see what this was all about. The press release went on to make this statement: "ICON is proud to announce that the A5 will be the first production aircraft in history to be designed to and completely comply with the Federal Aviation Administration's full-envelope Part 23 spin-resistance standards once production starts." Wow. I wasn't aware that the Icon A5 was going to go through FAA Part 23 certification. Bravo for them. The only problem was, it wasn't. While there was nothing technically incorrect in the wording of Icon's release, there were all kinds of implied messages that were way off base. The A5 wasn't going through the Part 23 certification process at all. The company was, instead, planning to use the current, admittedly rigorous Part 23 spin-resistance standards to drive its design and flight test, but the FAA wasn't...[ more] | |  |  Flying Quote of the Week
"An airplane might disappoint any pilot but it'll never surprise a good one."
— Len Morgan
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