If big boy toys like airplanes, sports memorabilia and classic cars make your pulse quicken, you may want to be in Lubbock, Texas, July 15 when Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers auction off the assets of Jonathan D. “Jody” Nelson. Nelson pled guilty in April to embezzling more than $77 million from his employer. As he’s awaiting […]
News
First Diamond Brilliance Flight Center opens
Diamond Aircraft has opened its first Diamond Brilliance Flight Center in Naples, Fla., operated by Europe-American Aviation. Diamond Brilliance Flight Center operators are hand-picked by Diamond Aircraft to provide flight training and aircraft rental services. The centers use Diamond aircraft and flight training devices exclusively. The Europe-American Diamond Brilliance Flight Center’s fleet will consist of […]
Sport Pilot and LSA take off — slowly
The Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule was finalized in September 2004 and by April 2005 the first aircraft were starting to be certified in the United States. Since then, the industry has certified no less than 36 new airplanes. But if you broach the topic of Sport Pilot/LSA with a group of wanna-be sport pilots, […]
GA focus of new master plan at FMS
With a new master plan in the final stages, Fort Smith Regional Airport (FMS) in Arkansas has renewed its support of GA. As part of the plan, new construction of a taxiway and general aviation ramp will be followed by construction of three 14-unit nested T-hangars and at least one 10-unit shadeport. Construction is due […]
What’s in a name?
One of the greatest obstacles in getting the word to the non-flying masses about LSA is using language that the aviation-challenged understand. For example, the term “weight shift controlled” probably means nothing to these people, and the term trike evokes a different mode of transportation altogether. “The term ‘trike’ makes people think of motorcycles,” said […]
Test pilot Jim Gannett dies
James R. Gannett, a retired Boeing test pilot who helped launch the jet age, died of a brain aneurism June 17 at his home in Redmond, Wash. He was 83. Gannett’s interest in aviation was sparked as a boy when his father gave him $1 to take an airplane ride. That ride led to a […]
Guess who else is against user fees?
Most GA pilots are against them, as well as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Experimental Aircraft Association and a host of other alphabet groups. But did you know that air traffic controllers also are against user fees? The controllers’ union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), even went so far as to […]
History organizations collaborate to catalog aviation archives
Volunteers from four aviation history organizations are collaborating to produce an on-line catalog of U.S. Air Force Engineering Division records now held at the U.S. National Archives II in College Park, Maryland. This gigantic collection of records chronicles the development and procurement of practically everything acquired by the USAF between 1917 and 1947. It contains […]
Symphony files for protection from creditors
Symphony Aircraft Industries, which produces the Symphony 160 two-seat trainer, has entered into the Canadian version of bankruptcy. Filing under C-36 of the Creditors Arrangement Act protects the company from its creditors while it continues to operate, officials with the Quebec-based company said. “We were put in this position by our suppliers, who are primarily […]