About 55% of the civilian pilots in the United States require some sort of vision correction to meet the FAA’s requirements for medical certification, according to the FAA. While glasses are the most common choice, a growing number of pilots are choosing laser refractive, or LASIK, surgery. The procedure alters the curvature of the cornea […]
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Florida rookie Jason Newburg wins at Reno
When something bad happens, a lot of people can let it get them down. Not Jason Newburg, who took something bad and turned it into victory. The Edgewater, Florida, aerobatics performer bought a Pitts Special S-1 in Jamaica. When it arrived in Florida, he found it had been damaged in shipping. The plane, now named […]
Doctor’s order: Fly a one-of-a-kind airplane
It all started for Jeff Laskin when he was in first grade in Chicago. “I was so excited about wearing a ‘Mighty Mouse’ costume for Halloween,” he recalls. “I remember jumping off the desks pretending to fly until the teacher ‘grounded’ me.” But that teacher couldn’t ground his dreams of flight. Those dreams were put […]
Above-average hurricane season forecast
The 2007 hurricane season will be one of “above-average” activity, according to Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University, one of the best-known and most accurate forecasters. Gray’s “early season forecast,” issued Dec. 8, predicts 14 named storms, seven of which will become hurricanes. Three of those will be major hurricanes, meaning category 3, 4 […]
Tuskegee Airmen’s perfect record questioned
The Tuskegee Airmen never lost to enemy fighters a bomber they were escorting. That has been accepted as fact for 61 years, since the end of World War II. On Dec. 10, however, Tuskegee Airmen Historian William F. Holton told the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser that Air Force records show at least a few bombers escorted […]
‘Diamond Li’ undergoes extreme makeover
The Commemorative Air Force’s “Diamond Lil” may be no more. The B-24, the oldest in existence, is in the midst of a restoration that will return it to its original B-24A status. Based at the B-29/B-24 Squadron at the CAF’s Midland, Texas, headquarters, “Diamond Lil,” was put in the paint scheme and markings of the […]
NTSB investigates first crash for AiShare Elite
NTSB continues its investigation of a Cirrus SR22 that crashed Nov. 30 while on approach to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. Killed in the crash was George Vrana of Atlanta. This was the first crash for AirShares Elite, a GA fractional company that has a fleet of 50 Cirrus planes and 240 owners, […]
Cirrus sells record 529 planes in 3rd quqrter
Cirrus Design Corp. continues to report good news. The company sold a record 529 planes in its third quarter. The company credits the creation of a worldwide sales network for the jump in sales. International orders accounted for 24% of all business through October, up from 5% in 2002.
New interpretation of “known icing conditions” by FAA could ground GA aircraft during the winter
A new interpretation by the FAA of “known icing conditions” could ground GA aircraft during the winter, alphabet groups warn. The new interpretation says that “high relative humidity” constitutes known icing conditions, so pilots in high relative humidity conditions when the temperature is near or below freezing must fly an aircraft with deicing equipment. The […]