Famed game developer Richard Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, soon will follow in his father’s footsteps. He’s started preparations for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2008. That mission will be the first in a series that will accommodate commercial activities aboard the ISS, such as scientific and […]
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Flock of bizjets in development
Demand for new business jets, and VLJs in particular, is strong and growing, according to speakers at an AOPA Expo forum earlier this month. One speaker listed 22 new jets in development – not all of them VLJs, however – and seven more that have been certified recently. The panel was in agreement that the […]
Zenith’s Open Hangar Day attracts quite a crowd
Zenith Aircraft Company’s 16th annual Open Hangar Day and Fly-In Gathering held in late September at the Zenith Aircraft factory in Mexico, Missouri, was dubbed a huge success by company officials. Dozens of airplanes flew in and hundreds of people participated in the two-day event, which featured educational workshops on everything from scratch-building an airplane […]
New airport slated for Central Texas
A private investor has purchased a small airport in Central Texas with the intent of turning it into a larger general aviation facility. Ron Henriksen, a Texas businessman and pilot with strong ties to aviation, has purchased the privately owned, public-use Bird’s Nest Airport located approximately 12 miles outside of Austin. He recently constructed Houston […]
Piper unveils its Matrix at AOPA Expo
Piper Aircraft had people guessing at AOPA Expo when it announced that a new product was forthcoming. Were they going to jump into the LSA pool, as many expected? “We’re not bringing back the Cub,” Mark Miller, director of the company’s corporate communications, said during the Expo, which was held earlier this month in Hartford, […]
Columbia production to remain in Oregon if Cessna is successful bidder
If Cessna Aircraft Co. is the successful bidder for Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corp., the plant will stay in Bend, Ore., Cessna CEO Jack J. Pelton said at AOPA Expo. Pelton noted that the Columbia workforce, with its experience in composite construction, is in the region and that Cessna’s manufacturing facilities in Kansas are at capacity, […]
What’s in your hangar?
How would you like it if you were on the waiting list to get a hangar at your airport and you knew that one of the current tenants used his hangar to store his motor home, a pool table, and parts of a car and old furniture — everything but an airplane? Chances are that […]
Kansas Air Tour begins to take shape
Plans for the 2008 Kansas Air Tour continue to evolve. The tour, which is slated for April of 2008, is, in part, a re-creation of the All Kansas Air Tour of 1928. “We wanted to fly the original route, but that is not possible,” noted Ed Young, director of aviation for the Kansas Department of […]
Search for Fossett suspended
About a month after Steve Fossett disappeared over the Nevada desert, the Civil Air Patrol suspended its search for the millionaire adventurer and pilot. Fossett disappeared Sept. 3 when he flew from a private airstrip in Yerington, Nev., in a Bellanca Decathalon and failed to return from what was supposed to be a three-hour flight. […]