How early is too early to get your kids into aviation? The Webb family of Appleton, Wis., thought it was about time that the youngest, 9-month-old Cheslee, learn what EAA AirVenture and the Young Eagles program was all about. Note the placement of the “Young Eagle” button on her shirt. Kirk Webb, the proud papa, […]
Inhofe attacks Senate’s FAA reauthorization proposal: Calls it “a sweetheart deal for the airlines”
General aviation user fees are “the most misunderstood issue” currently before Congress, declared Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) during an interview at AirVenture 2007. Inhofe, GA’s greatest friend in the U.S. Senate, also spoke to a large crowd, curious about the status of the user fees debate, at the EAA Member Village. Long a member […]
Aviat Aircraft adds enhanced vision to Husky
Aviat Aircraft has become the first general aviation manufacturer to offer a low-cost enhanced vision system for light airplanes. Aviat president Stu Horn announced at AirVenture that the low-cost ForwardVision EVS-100 enhanced vision system is available as optional equipment on new Huskys and as a retrofit to existing Huskys. Previously, the only EVS systems offered […]
Bright new engine ideas at AirVenture
Although Light Sport Aircraft and Very Light Jets got most of the publicity at EAA’s AirVenture this year, anyone with an interest in engines might have seen it differently. Six engine manufacturers and developers made what they considered to be major announcements at AirVenture, and most others at least held news conferences, if only to […]
Adam Aircraft’s Rick Adam moving on: Turns over day-to-day leadership in long-planned transition
Adam Aircraft’s board of directors named John D. Wolf as chairman and CEO earlier this month, replacing company founder Rick Adam. Adam had said earlier this year that he was planning a transition as the company moved from development to manufacturing, but the actual decision was made only days before the announcement, said Shelly Simi, […]
Transponder X2
“You don’t take chances when you are flying in the ADIZ,” says Kent Larson, owner of Aerial Photographers LLC, based in Vienna, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Larson flies a 1972 Cessna Cardinal with two transponders on it – one more than the FAA requires, “Just in case one gives out,” he explained. The aircraft […]
Eclipse flies single-engine Concept Jet to Oshkosh
Eclipse Aviation pulled off the most dramatic surprise at this year’s EAA AirVenture, introducing its v-tail, single-engine Concept Jet which, until that moment, had been a carefully-guarded secret. As the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Peg Bilson, introduced the Concept, a curtain dropped revealing a cloud of mist, flashing lights and a mockup. The press corps […]
Sometime Senate GA boosters now call for user fees
Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), and Trent Lott (R-Miss.), both long-time supporters of general aviation, now say they are determined that GA will pay more in fees to support modernization of the air traffic control system. During recent Senate Finance Committee hearings on the FAA reauthorization bill, Rockefeller threatened to restrict GA access to congested […]
Delaware’s private airports scrutinized: Fatal accident draws attention of state regulators
Two years after an airplane struck a passing sport utility vehicle while landing at a private airstrip near Georgetown, Delaware, state officials have begun to scrutinize the state’s non-public airfields. The accident killed a man and his daughter, who were driving past the runway’s end at the time. The threshold is only about 18 feet […]