The very newest thing in Light Sport Aircraft looks for all the world like an airplane from the early years of aviation. It’s the Aerolab LoCamp from Italy, sporting two open cockpits, fabric covering, a fine wood instrument panel and a radial engine – but it’s so new that it has yet to achieve LSA […]
Sensenich adds composites to classic wood propellers
Sensenich Propellers, among the oldest in the aviation business, showed the newest of propeller technology at Sun ‘n Fun this year. Famous for its elegant wooden propellers – things of beauty as well as function – Sensenich featured its new composite props at its fly-in display. The ground-adjustable blades are built of carbon fiber and […]
It’s a flying motorcycle — really
Futurists have been writing about flying cars for at least 70 years. Larry Neal has been working on one for 12 years and his first version – the Super Sky Cycle – went on sale at Sun ‘n Fun in April. It is the first time in history that a truly roadworthy aircraft – one […]
Meet our Southern Aviators: Pat and Vic Boyce
If you’ve spent any time at Sun ’n Fun, you’ve probably run into Pat or Vic Boyce. The couple are known around the grounds as “go-to” people. You need an answer? Pat will find it for you. Need someone to run the workshops or raise money for a state-of-the art telescope? Vic’s your man. Originally […]
Boom time for Florida’s Palatka Airport
“This is not an airport. This is a business center,” says Glenn Ball, manager of Palatka Municipal Airport (28J) in northern Florida. “There’s a difference.” Everywhere you look around the city of Palatka, something is being built. Marinas, restaurants and motels are going up on the St. Johns River shores. Inland, it’s industrial buildings ranging […]
On ‘Chemtrail’ and other irrationalities, including NORAD’s
If you’ve never heard of chemtrails, don’t feel badly. I thought I’d heard most of the nutty notions affecting aviation, until a friend suggested running a Google search on chemtrails. Try it. You’ll be astonished by the concept, to begin with, and the enormous number of pages devoted to it. In sum, chemtrails enthusiasts say […]
Lycoming ‘retires’ questionable crankshafts
Lycoming has issued Mandatory Service Bulletin 569, which effectively “retires” – to use Lycoming’s word – more than 5,000 crankshafts that the company suspects may be faulty. “Lycoming has continued to analyze crankshafts in service,” the bulletin states. “While there have been no failures in the crankshafts which are the subject of this Service Bulletin, […]
Fred Quarles is an axemplary Southern Aviator
“General aviation pilots are an untapped national resource,” says Fred Quarles. He reached that conclusion after organizing a phenomenally successful effort to rescue survivors of Hurricane Katrina, many of whom were facing imminent death. Quarles, who operates an international aircraft delivery service based in Charlottesville, Virginia, organized the rescue effort, called Operation Teacup, immediately after […]
User fees inevitable?
Last November, at AOPA Expo, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta claimed that the FAA’s funding problems wouldn’t be solved by user fees. “The fuel tax is the best way to finance the needs of aviation,” he told a standing-room-only crowd of pilots. But Mineta’s tune has changed. Late last month, Mineta told the Aero Club of […]