News

You might think that these days a desk-top computer is as common in a maintenance hangar as a set of wrenches, but it’s not so. There are still some licensed aircraft mechanics who don’t utilize cyberspace. That can make it difficult to find out about Airworthiness Directives that affect the aircraft they are working on. […]

The fact that Cessna’s LSA, the SkyCatcher, is being built in China has garnered a lot of attention for the Wichita airplane manufacturer — and not all of it is good. Many took the company to task for not building the plane in the U.S., but instead choosing the Shenyang Aircraft Company (SAC) in China […]

Although the search for millionaire adventurer and pilot Steve Fossett has been unsuccessful so far, there has been a positive outcome. When Fossett went missing, satellite technology and the Internet allowed “searchers” anywhere in the world to study the search area remotely. It was the first time the method had been utilized. As a result, […]

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has teamed with the Transportation Security Administration to develop an online course to help flight schools, FBOs, aircraft owners and pilots to enhance security. The interactive course, which offers practical guidelines and security tips, is an extension of AOPA’s Airport Watch program. The course, along with a review of […]

A Washington state resident who snapped the first photographs of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has donated them to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The images, shot by Lee Embree, will be on permanent display. At the time of the attack, Embree was a staff sergeant and photographer with the Army Air Corps. […]

In 1972 Jim and Mike Swift bought a 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12 with an 85-hp engine. The plan was that Mike would use the plane to build his hours to qualify for an airline career. While recovering the aircraft, the brothers decided to do some modifications to it, including clipping the wings. Other modifications followed, including […]

You wouldn’t think a group called Stumps R Us has anything in common with the Air Care Alliance or a show for school kids telling the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to earn her pilot’s license. But each of these is one of the 170 winners of grants from the Wolf Aviation […]

Norbert C. Ruff, of Bloomer, Wis., died Nov. 28, following a stroke. He was 88. Born in 1919, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940. During the war he was stationed in the South Pacific and flew a P-38 with the 80th Pursuit Group. After the war Ruff left the military and became […]

There’s encouraging news mixed with some discouragement in AOPA’s annual Nall Report on aviation safety. The good news is a 10-year trend downward in general aviation accidents, from 7.19 per 100,000 hours flown in 1997 to 6.32 in 2006. In fact, the report states, 2006 was the safest year in the history of general aviation. […]