News

Air show pilot Eric Beard was killed Jan. 6 when his Piper Seneca crashed in fog in Skagit County, Wash. Beard, 47, was flying for Airpac Airlines, a cargo company, at the time of the crash. The plane’s wreckage was found about 400 yards from the runway at Skagit Bayview Airport (BVS) near Mount Vernon. […]

Liberty Aerospace made history with its first customer delivery in December. That’s because the delivery of an XL2 to Thomas Sams, a retired airline captain in Texas, also marked the first retail delivery of a production aircraft in the U.S. equipped with Teledyne Continental Motors Inc. PowerLink Full Authority Digital Engine Control ( FADEC).

Also making a first delivery in late 2005 was Adam Aircraft, which delivered its first A500 centerline piston-engine twin aircraft to a customer during the NBAA convention. “Adam Aircraft has moved from a developmental startup company that makes experimental aircraft to an FAA-certified manufacturer that is delivering standard airworthiness aircraft,” said Rick Adam, chairman and […]

SportairUSA’s StingSport now sports airbags. The LSA, which already features a Ballistic Recovery parachute system, now includes AmSafe Aviation Inflatable Restraints (AAIR).

Potomac Airfield (VKX) near Washington, D.C., has reopened. The Transportation Security Administration closed the airport in November, claiming Airport Manager David Wartofsky was not following TSA-approved security procedures established in 2002 for the three airports in the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Wartofsky countered the measures that were used at Potomac went beyond the scope […]

The new year will see Excel-Jet Ltd. relocating from Colorado to the Oklahoma City suburb of Guthrie. The company manufactures the single-engine Sport-Jet. Excel-Jet will set up shop in a 10,000-square-foot hangar at Guthrie/Edmond Municipal Airport (KGOK) in the next 90 to 120 days. It is estimated that when it is operational the facility could […]

The Wings of Eagles Discovery Center of Elmira, N.Y., has sold its B-17 “Fuddy Duddy.” The new owner is Martin Aviation, an aviation maintenance company based at John Wayne Airport in Orange, Calif. While details of the sale were not disclosed, museum officials said they were able to retire more than $3 million in debt […]

Last year was one of triumph and tragedy as Mother Nature walloped the country from floods in Southern California that closed airports to the devastating triple threat of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. GA came to the rescue in all those situations, as pilots volunteered for countless rescue and relief missions. The Civil Air Patrol, […]

Two public meetings on a proposal to make the Washington, D.C., Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) permanent will be held this month. The meetings, scheduled by the FAA, also will be attended by officials from the departments of defense and homeland security. “This represents the first time since Sept. 11 that security officials and the […]