The first Liberty XL2 was delivered to the company’s first private buyer in December. Retired American Airlines captain Thomas Sams and his wife, Mary Jane, live at South Lake, Texas. Sams has logged some 23,000 hours with the airline, as a CAE SimuFlite instructor and privately, said Liberty’s president and CEO Tony Tiarks, who sees […]
News
Lyons painting in Texas competition
“Polished Perfection,” a painting by artist Sam Lyons of a gorgeous Luscombe Silvaire, has been selected for exhibition in the Horizons of Flight Aviation Art Exhibition and Competition at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The juried aviation art show is sponsored by CAE SimuFlite and Flying magazine. More than 100 entries were submitted but only 32 […]
Admiral William P. Lawrence dies
Vice-Admiral William P. Lawrence, who died Dec. 2 at the age of 75, was a lot of things to a lot of people. One “achievement” he enjoyed talking about was his daughter, Capt. Wendy Lawrence, who became an astronaut and mission specialist. The admiral, a test pilot and first Naval Aviator to fly twice the […]
Potomac reopens
Potomac Airfield (VKX) near Washington, D.C., has reopened. The TSA 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 of those […]
ADIZ public meetings set
Two public meetings on a proposal to make the Washington, D.C., ADIZ permanent will be held this month. The meetings are scheduled for Jan. 12 at the Sheraton Hotel in Columbia, Maryland, and Jan. 18 at the Airport Marriott in Dulles, Virginia. Meetings will run between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., then start again at […]
The Southern Aviators of 2005
There’s no doubt that the top story of 2005 was the devastating aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which battered the Gulf Coast, Texas and Florida. The heroes were the thousands of GA pilots who flew countless missions of rescue, relief and reunion. Angel Flight and other such organizations across the South coordinated those […]
Legend Aircraft expanding
Construction is underway at American Legend Aircraft Co. in Sulphur Springs, Texas, to house the company’s expanding business. Based at Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport (KSLR), American Legend is building a 20,000-square-foot hangar to house manufacturing, assembly, and research and development functions. Also in the works is a 5,000-square-foot hangar for sales and marketing. The company, […]
The meter’s running
There’s a lot of talk about the future of air taxi operations. But the future is now at the Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU) in Greenville, S.C. That’s where Smart Air Travel Solutions, or SATSair, is headquartered. Operated by Rhino Aviation, a 20-year-old charter business, the air taxi operation has taken off since its inception in […]
Chalk’s Turbo-Mallard crashes
Chalk’s Ocean Airways, flying since 1919, suffered its first passenger fatalities on Dec. 19 when one of its Grumman G-73T Turbo-Mallards crashed in Miami’s Government Cut shortly after takeoff. The plane was less than 300 feet off the water when, according to witnesses, the right wing burst into flame and separated from the fuselage. The […]