The FAA has given the nod to the construction of a private airport in Waller County near Houston. Ron Henriksen, a private developer, plans to build what will be known as Air Rice Airport on 1,980 acres. No public money will be used for construction. Several residents oppose the project, saying the airport’s proximity to […]
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215 NDB approach shut down
Earlier this month, 215 NDB approaches ceased to exist. The FAA decommissioned them July 7, which means they will no longer spend money to flight-check the approaches, maintain equipment and update charts. However, the FAA has not turned off any NDBs. A total of 479 approaches will be decommissioned, with the remaining 288 procedures going […]
Another camshaft recall for Lycoming
In what some may see as “déjà vu all over again,” Lycoming has issued a mandatory service bulletin recalling what appears to be 1,227 crankshafts, some installed, some shipped as spares. Engines that have complied with Service Bulletins 552 or 553 are not affected. The affected engines are O-540, IO-540, AEIO-540 and TIO-540s rated at […]
Vimy replica recreates first Atlantic flight
If you think the first flight across the Atlantic was Charles Lindbergh’s, think again. His was the first solo flight. Two British aviators, Capt. John Alcock of the Royal Flying Corps and his navigator, Lt. Arthur Whitten Brown, did it in June of 1919. This month, pilot Steve Fossett and navigator Mark Rebholz did it […]
Air show pilots Franklin and Younkin killed
Well-known air show pilots Jim Franklin and Bobby Younkin were killed July 10 when their airplanes collided during a performance in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The fiery crash happened in front of thousands of people. No one on the ground was injured. Spectators reported that it appeared the planes’ wings clipped each other. The air show […]
Air show pilots collide off Delaware coast
Two airplanes practicing for an air show collided over Delaware Bay July 10, leaving one pilot dead and the other still missing at press time. The two were part of a six plane group that took off from Sussex County Airport (GED) at Georgetown, Del., earlier in the day. They were members of the Vultures […]
The race for sapce — in a Learjet?
What do you do with an old Learjet? If you’re George French and David Urie, you send it into orbit. French, who is president and CEO of Rocketplane Ltd., Inc. and Urie, the company’s vice president and program manager, are modifying Learjet 25 airframes as platforms for re-usable spacecraft, capable – they say – of […]
CarterCopter sets elusive record, but later crashes
During a flight test on June 17, the innovative CarterCopter unofficially broke the Mu-1 barrier — a goal that eluded rotary wing builders until that day. Mu is the ratio of the aircraft’s forward speed to its rotor tip speed. As forward speed increases, the effective airspeed over the retreating blade decreases. At Mu-1, the […]
German company unveils its light jet
Germany’s Grob Aerospace has added yet another bird to the burgeoning flock of light jets on the market. Long a builder of notably innovative airplanes, Grob caught the aviation world by surprise at the Paris Air Show in June when it sprung the brand new light twin jet on its competitors. It doesn’t have a […]