Members of the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum in Geneseo, N.Y., were overwhelmed on Christmas weekend when it was announced that a C-47 was donated to the museum. The C-47 cargo aircraft, affectionately known as the “Gooney Bird,” was the workhorse of the Army Air Corps, serving in all theaters during World War II. In […]
News
Alaska’s Rodger Borer dies at 82
Longtime Alaska resident and aviation pioneer, M. Rodger “Lone Ranger” Borer, died Dec. 26, 2004, at his home in Anchorage of natural causes. He was 82. An aviation mechanic, Borer was a founding member of the Alaska Airmen’s Association. He still holds the record for longest continuous membership in the organization. In 1957 he opened […]
TSA mandates online course for CFIs
All over the country CFIs spent a few hours in front of the keyboard earlier this month to comply with the TSA’s security awareness training requirements for flight instructors. CFIs are required to take the online interactive course, which is designed to teach them how to spot potential terrorist threats. The course includes tips on […]
Eclipse starts certification flights
The first of four Eclipse 500 flight certification aircraft made its maiden flight Dec. 31, “as we promised,” CEO Vern Raburn said. It made two flights on that first day of operations with production Pratt & Whitney Canada 610F turbofan engines. The flight of N503EA initiated a 15-month program that ultimately will involve seven airframes, […]
Those we lost in 2004
Aviation lost many of its most notable people last year. General Aviation News would like to pay tribute to some of those people, who had such a profound effect on all of our lives. JEROME F. LEDERER Jerome F. Lederer, whose work made aviation safer for all of us, died Jan. 6. He was 101. […]
Baby girl delivered on float plane
When Isabelle Chinuhuk asks her parents, Jenifer and Jamie, “How did I get here?” they can honestly answer “by float plane.” The little girl was born Dec. 26 aboard a Pacific Airways deHavilland Beaver en route to Ketchikan. The Chinuhuks live in Metlakatla and didn’t expect the baby until mid-January. Pacific Airways is a scheduled […]
Dine with Orville and Wilbur
Most pilots agree that you can’t have a good airport without a good restaurant, so when The Narrows Landing restaurant opened last summer at the Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW) in Gig Harbor, Wash., there was dancing in the hangars. Owners are Hal, Dossie and Tom Barker. Tom, in addition to being the chef, is Hal […]
There goes lunch…
Can you imagine 200 hours of somersaults? Unusual attitudes are one thing, but how would you like to perform nose-over-tail somersaults in the Space Shuttle? The return to flight rehearsals for the Space Shuttle now include that maneuver. The idea is that the flip will expose the underside of the shuttle for tile inspection. A […]
Fly a different plane each day
Can’t get enough flying? How about flying every day? You can — at least at your desk — with the 365 Tiny Paper Airplanes Page-A-Day Calendar from Workman Publishing. The calendar, designed by paper airplane world record holder Ken Blackburn and engineer Jeff Lammers, features a year of paper airplanes small enough to fit in […]