The Scripps Howard News Service recently released a rundown of general aviation numbers in each state, including total pilots, total GA aircraft and total public/private airports. The news service compiled the stats with information from the FAA, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and the Transportation Security Administration. The bottom line? There are 651,551 pilots, 294,123 […]
News
‘He just messed up general aviation’
Fears of domestic terror could lead to major changes in general aviation, according to a report at KSLANews.com in Shreveport, Louisiana. Reporters there spoke to Tracy Golden, a GA pilot at Downtown Airport in Sheveport, who said his first reaction after hearing about the Austin, Texas, crash was that the pilot “owed a lot of […]
NTSB chairman testifies on aircraft icing
NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, in testimony Feb. 24 before the House Aviation Subcommittee, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, discussed the dangers of aircraft flying in icing conditions and highlighted longstanding NTSB recommendations that have yet to be adopted by the FAA to address the issue. Reducing the dangers of flying in icing conditions has been […]
Donations sought to help cover costs for WASP Congressional Gold Medal ceremony
The Heart of Texas Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America is asking for donations to help cover the costs when the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) travel to Washington, D.C., next month to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. According to chapter officials, 100% of the funds raised will be used for the cost […]
FlightSafety Hawker Beechcraft Maintenance Learning Center opens
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) and FlightSafety International hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Feb. 24 at the recently completed FlightSafety International Hawker Beechcraft Maintenance Learning Center. Located east of the approach end of HBC’s Runway 18 in Wichita, the new 44,000-square-foot Maintenance Learning Center features 10 classrooms, Graphical Flight-Deck simulators, composites and cabin […]
Zodiac report IDs several factors in crashes
Several factors, including a wing structure that does not meet ASTM standards for Light Sport Aircraft, are indicated as causes for Zodiac CH601XL and CH650 in-flight accidents, according to an FAA report released Feb. 22. The special report is the result of an investigation into the Zodiacs after a series of in-flight structural failures, which […]
Individual liability insurance now available
Evolution Insurance Brokers has introduced a new individual liability insurance product to the aviation industry, offering customized, one-of-a-kind, individual protection plans to pilots, aircraft owners, CFIs, aircraft maintenance technicians and others. Branded as Xinsurance.com, and called “Pilot Shield,” the new offering is not a substitute for traditional insurance, but rather fills the gaps of other […]
San Francisco pilot can sue feds for disclosing HIV status
A GA pilot from San Francisco, who hid his HIV-positive status for years out of fear of losing his license, can sue the government for disclosing his condition during a fraud investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Feb. 22. According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, while a federal judge dismissed Stan Cooper’s […]
NATA celebrates 70 years
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). When NATA began in 1940, some of the issues critical to aviation then are not so very unfamiliar to us now – private aviation businesses in America were under attack from all sides, the unemployment rate was over 14%, tax rates had […]