Ron Kaplan has been named executive director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He has been with the hall of fame for seven years, holding posts in development and marketing and serving as deputy director. He had been serving as interim executive director since the Dec. 31, 2004, retirement of former executive director, Mike […]
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BRS to buy Free Flight Enterprises
Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., a whole-airplane parachute company, has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Free Flight Enterprises, a company that makes custom parachutes for commercial and recreational aircraft, including ultralights, hang gliders and parafoils. The acquisition is part of BRS’s strategy to expand it focus and provide products to a much wider […]
New Piper delivers 200th Meridian
The New Piper Aircraft Co. delivered its 200th Malibu Meridian earlier this month to Don and Jane Lockhard of Ontario, Canada. Serial No. 200 is the Lockhard’s second Meridian. They’ve also owned two Piper Mirages and a Piper Malibu. The Meridian, New Piper’s flagship model, was certified in 2000. The single-engine turboprop features a 500 […]
Aircraft Spruce East to hold open house May 21
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty’s eastern outlet at Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Ga., will hold an open house May 21. A number of manufacturers representatives will be on hand to demonstrate and explain the use of their products. There also will be prizes for attendees, free hot dogs and sodas, and the pilot who flies […]
FAA employees file suit to stop outsourcing of FSS operations
Nearly 800 flight service specialists filed a lawsuit March 31 to stop the FAA from contracting out their jobs. In February, the FAA awarded a $1.9 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to take over operations at the agency’s Automated Flight Service Stations. At that time, Lockheed officials said they planned to close 38 of the […]
Championship air races slated for Mississippi
Between June 2 and 5, the skies over Tunica, Miss., will be filled with the sounds of great air racers as Unlimiteds, T-6s and Formula One aircraft race for the Tunica Cup. Tunica Municipal Airport (M97) is the venue for the second air racing competition in the world, the other being Reno’s. The race was […]
A new meaning to ‘Let’s do lunch’
Imagine the chaos at the drive-through window when Doug Bernard and Becky Larson of New Iberia, La., ordered 450 sandwiches from the local Schlotzsky’s Deli – enough to feed all 450 people who work at The Lancair Co. Actually, they used the phone, not the drive-through, but they did buy lunch for the entire company. […]
Meigs two years later: From airplanes to Aerosmith?
It has been two years since Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the midnight demolition of Merrill C. Meigs Field (CGX) in Chicago. The closure came without public notice. Not even the FAA or owners of aircraft based at the airport had any warning. Now the land is slated to become an outdoor event venue – […]
New life for an old aircraft
What do you do with an airplane once it’s damaged beyond repair? If you’re the Air Force, you use it to study issues related to aging. That’s what’s happening at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with a T-1A Jayhawk, a “”missionized”” Beech 400A that was used to train Air Force and Navy aviators to fly cargo […]