Eclipse Aviation CEO Vern Raburn announced Jan. 14 an “expansion” of his company’s partnership with European Technology and Investment Research Center Aviation (ETIRC), which has invested “substantially in excess of $100 million” in the Albuquerque-based VLJ builder. The investment makes ETIRC the largest shareholder in Eclipse, according to Raburn. ETIRC already was the sales, customer […]
The Flying Farmer’s last show
Charlie Kulp flew his amazing aerobatic comedy routine one last time Oct. 28. The much-admired air show pilot, known far and wide as the Flying Farmer, drew a record crowd to the Flying Circus Aerodrome near Warrenton, Virginia, on a blustery day that concluded with special presentations to Kulp by representatives of the FAA and […]
A new twist on a fish tale…
Flying fish were the inspiration for an unmanned seaplane developed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The autonomous craft is believed to be the first seaplane that can initiate and perform its own takeoffs and landings on water. The project is funded by the Department of Defense as part of the federal government’s […]
Get a (second) life
Can’t get enough of airplanes in the real world? Now you can have aircraft hanging in the air all around you as real-time aviation data are displayed in the virtual world, thanks to a new visualization from Daden Limited and aircraft tracking specialists FBOWeb.com. The visualization takes FBOWeb.com’s near-live data of aircraft locations around LAX […]
Famous flyer: Morgan Freeman shares his passion for flight
Like many pilots, flying got Morgan Freeman into trouble when he was in high school. “I started flying at my desk in school,” the award-winning actor said during a visit to AirVenture this year. “My English teacher would see me ‘flying’ an F-86 Sabrejet at my desk and ask, ‘Morgan, what are you doing?’” Like […]
Spreading the good news: Wolf Aviation Fund supports projects promoting GA
You wouldn’t think a group called Stumps R Us has anything in common with the Air Care Alliance or a show for school kids telling the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to earn her pilot’s license. But each of these is one of the 170 winners of grants from the Wolf Aviation […]
GA safety: Nall Report mostly encouraging…But some things never change
There’s encouraging news mixed with some discouragement in AOPA’s annual Nall Report on aviation safety. The good news is a 10-year trend downward in general aviation accidents, from 7.19 per 100,000 hours flown in 1997 to 6.32 in 2006. In fact, the report states, 2006 was the safest year in the history of general aviation. […]
An historic airplane rises from an abandoned wreck
“Wow! Wow! Wow!” Those were the only words one Oshkosh visitor could utter as he stood beside Tom Dinndorf’s elegant Stinson SR-10, an airplane once owned by Shell Oil Co. and flown by Jimmy Doolittle. The gleaming red and yellow Stinson, correct to the smallest detail of its original 1938 appearance, is a past Vintage […]
No more takeoffs for Red Baron Pizza Squadron
After 28 years of air show performances, Schwan Food Co.’s Red Baron Pizza Squadron is retiring. A “refocusing” in marketing strategy at the company led to the squadron’s grounding, according to Bill McCormack, executive vice president. “The Red Baron Squadron has been an incredible asset to our company,” he said. “The retail grocery industry has […]