News

Bombardier’s new-generation Global Express XRS business jet has successfully completed its maiden flight. During the four-hour, four-minute flight, the bizjet reached an altitude of 47,000 feet and a maximum true airspeed of 518 knots (596 mph). The jet, which can fly 6,150 nm nonstop, is expected to receive its Certificate of Airworthiness shortly. Customer deliveries […]

The Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation Division and the Seaplane Pilots Association are trying to persuade city officials in Lakewood, Washington, to keep the seaplane base at American Lake open. The city notified the state of its intent to close the base last month. The owners of the handful of aircraft kept at the […]

Salina, Kan., may not be the center of the world, but it’s close enough for aviation adventurer Steve Fossett. The record-setting pilot plans to use the Salina airport for the beginning and end of his attempt to fly the first solo, non-stop, non-refueled circumnavigation of the earth. Fossett will fly Scaled Composites’ Model 311, a […]

When you spend a lifetime in one industry, it can be very difficult to retire. It certainly was for Horst Bergmann, who spent approximately 40 years at Jeppesen. He’s now capping off his career at Aviation Technology Group, Inc. (ATG), developers of the Javelin Executive Jet. Bergmann joined Jeppesen in 1963, right after he finished […]

Congress recently passed legislation increasing the 2005 funding for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Congress appropriated $2 million above the requested budget for the NTSB and directed the agency to use the extra funds to hire additional accident investigators for its regional offices.

One man’s development is another man’s grounds for objection. A $30 million redevelopment project at McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ) in San Diego is under way, but the dozens of pilots displaced by the project have not dropped their complaint alleging that the development is designed to push general aviation interests off the field. Last September, pilots […]

Is there a link between flying at night and flying drunk? Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say a recently completed study seems to point to one. According to their findings, 52% of alcohol-related aircraft accidents happen between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. Continued flight into deteriorating weather, something that leads to accidents even when the […]

The FAA has called the City of Santa Monica on the carpet for applying landing fees to business jets utilizing the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The fees, which have been controversial since they went into effect in August 2003, apply only to aircraft with a maximum structural landing weight of more than 10,000 pounds. […]

Gary E. Schmidt, president and owner of Tanis Aircraft in Glenwood, Minn., died in an aircraft accident near the Glenwood Airport Dec. 9, 2004. Schmidt bought Tanis Aircraft Services in January 2002 from the family of Peter Tanis, the company’s founder. Schmidt had a long career in marketing and used his skills to promote Tanis […]