Last May, John and Debra McBean, former SkyStar employees and owners of Sport Plane LLC, an Idaho-based builder’s assist center, purchased the assets of SkyStar Aircraft Corp., makers of the popular Kitfox. The McBeans announced their intentions to continue manufacturing kits. But as anyone who has been in the aviation business for even a short […]
Cirrus facing wrongful death lawsuit in Lidle crash
An attorney representing the families of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and flight instructor Tyler Stanger, who died in the crash of the Cirrus SR20 in Manhattan, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Cirrus Design Corp. The complaint alleges product liability, negligence and breach of warranty against Cirrus. Teledyne, Hartzell Propeller, S-Tec, Honeywell […]
Children’s Air Corps Guild
“Your child has cancer” is one of the most devastating sentences a parent can hear. Richard Newman, a pilot from Washington state, heard these words when his daughter Carli was diagnosed with lymphoma, but this wasn’t the only thing that inspired him to create the Children’s Air Corps Guild, an organization geared toward raising funds […]
Relief in sight for vintage aircraft owners: Proposal would release dataneeded to maintain airworthiness
One of the challenges of owning a vintage aircraft is getting the information needed to do required maintenance. This is especially true of so-called “orphaned” aircraft — those no longer in production or supported by a factory. For years, aviation advocacy groups, such as the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the Vintage Aircraft Association (VAA), […]
SPECIAL REPORT: Restorations
There is a special fascination to old machinery, and particularly that which has been restored to its original working condition. Unlike static displays, working machines let us hear, smell, touch and feel the strength, the beauty, the inventiveness of mechanical things that did the work of the nation in bygone times. Aircraft restorers know the […]
Restoring a legend: Lost for decades, this Boeing 40 will take to the air next year
Aviation is filled with legends about airplane crashes. One of the more enduring tales out of southern Oregon is the one about a Boeing 40C, loaded with diamonds, that crashed on a mountain. Allegedly, the wreckage was never found. The story has been told for generations around campfires, kitchen tables and in tree houses. But […]
Jacksonville anti-airplane ordinance to be revised: Pilots to work with councilman to rework law
A showing by members of the Experimental Aircraft Association during a Feb. 27 meeting of the Jacksonville, Fla., City Council has prompted the councilman who penned Ordinance 2006-543-E to rework the measure. The ordinance, which was adopted last summer, bars anyone from building, repairing, testing, operating, modifying, or altering flying craft or airboats anywhere on […]
PBY in Lake Mead now open to divers
Divers who enjoy exploring submerged airplane wrecks have a new target in Lake Mead, Nevada. The National Park Service (NPS) has released the location of a submerged PBY Catalina. The plane sits in two sections approximately 190 feet below the surface in the Boulder Basin Area of the lake. Because of the depth it is […]
Florida flight instructor airms for space. Forget lemonade stands! How abou tthe Internet as a way to raise funds?
Ben Riecken, a 25-year-old flight instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, wants to be one of the first people to become a space tourist. Since that’s difficult to do on a flight instructor’s salary, he’s trying to raise some supplemental income by selling ads on his new website, MyTripInSpace.com. Place your ad […]