It’s an expense all airplane owners have to pay, many grudgingly. Just why do we need insurance anyway? “Aviation is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness or neglect,” says Greg Sterling, general manager of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Insurance Agency Inc. Well then, why is it so expensive? “In the global insurance business, aviation […]
The tax man cometh: Can you hide?
What can you do to avoid paying sales tax – legally – on your new airplane? “Don’t buy it,” jokes Ray Speciale, a pilot, lawyer and CPA with Yodice Associates, a Maryland law firm. Other than that, there’s “no surefire way” to beat the tax man, he says. “Often we hear you should incorporate in […]
Finding the right lender
How can you find the best lender to finance your new airplane? First, understand the marketplace, advises David Madden, who is a pilot and executive vice president of Aircraft Banking.Com. There are many ways to buy an airplane: with cash, going down to your local bank, using a broker or going to a finance company. […]
Another TFR, this time for VP
A temporary flight restriction (TFR) around Vice President Richard Cheney’s new house could end up being permanent – at least until the next election. Cheney recently bought an 18th century house named Mount Misery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. On Nov. 22, a TFR with a one-nautical-mile radius and a ceiling of 1,500 feet was established […]
Goodyear to launch new airship
A new blimp will take to the skies next Spring. The new airship has been in production for the past two years as a replacement for the Stars & Stripes, one of four Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. blimps. The new blimp will be based at Pompano Beach, Fla. The Goodyear blimps are celebrating their […]
NASA flying wing model soars in historic wind tunnel
Ask anyone what an airplane looks like and most will tell you a tube with wings. NASA researchers are trying to expand that image, testing a design for a flying wing called a blended wing body. Technicians have installed a 5% scale model of a blended wing body in the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel at NASA’s […]
Pole-topole flight scrubbed
A contaminant found in the fuel of Gus McLeod’s Firefly appears to be sabotage. The mysterious incident has forced further postponement of McLeod’s planned pole-to-pole solo flight around the world. “After an analysis of the contamination, and cutting the tanks open for inspection, the verdict is inescapable,” the Maryland pilot said. “The fuel was contaminated with a […]
Slick Goodin, 82
Chalmers H. “Slick” Goodlin, a Bell test pilot originally set to become the first man to exceed Mach 1, died of cancer at his home in West Palm Beach, Fla., Oct. 20. He was 82. Goodlin made 26 subsonic flights in the rocket-powered Bell X-1-1 and X-1-2, reaching Bell’s contractual speed of Mach 0.8. When […]
Robert E. Bush, 79
Robert E. Bush died Nov. 8 near Olympia, Wash. He was 79. He earned the Medal of Honor during World War II fighting on Okinawa, where he lost an eye – and nearly his life – while treating a wounded Marine Corps officer and holding off charging Japanese troops at the same time. He was […]