COLUMBUS, Ohio — Spirit Aeronautics is celebrating its 15th year in business. “When I first started Spirit Aeronautics (formerly Spirit Avionics) in 2000, I literally quit my job and took the leap of faith that it would work out,” said Rick Ochs, founder, chairman and CEO. “It was scary. I had a wife, kids and a mortgage with […]
Founder of Mayo Aviation flies west
Gwendolyn Lee Olson Mayo, founder of Mayo Aviation, a Part 135 charter operator and 36-year partner with Flight for Life Colorado, in Centennial Airport in Denver, Colorado, passed away Nov. 20. A pioneer of the charter aviation industry, Mayo held a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, and was also a member of the […]
Desert Jet Center to open at KTRM in January, appoints GM
THERMAL, Calif. – Desert Jet Center, the newest FBO at the Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (KTRM), has named Brad Elliott general manager. Elliott previously was customer relations manager for Banyan Air Service. Beginning in the line service department of FBO Showalter Flying Service, Elliott rose to director of new business. After his tenure with Showalter Flying Service, he held various […]
Twin Commander introduces kits for improved dorsal fin
Twin Commander Aircraft has developed several new kits that improve evacuation of moisture under the fuselage-to-vertical-stabilizer dorsal fin on Twin Commanders. Custom Kit (CK) 193 (for models 690A and B) and CK 198 (for models 690C/D, 695, and 695A) are comprised of a weep-hole system of parts, including shims, to be installed under the existing dorsal […]
Fuel exhaustion fatal
The flight was about 60 miles from the destination airport when the pilot reported a total loss of engine power to air traffic control. The controller provided information on nearby airports, and the pilot maneuvered the Raytheon G36 toward the closest airport in Panama City, Florida. The pilot reported the airport in sight; radio and […]
Picture of the day: Landing above the clouds
Darin Scheer of Farson, Wyo., sent in this photo, which was also featured in the Dec. 20 print issue of General Aviation News, which he titled “Ridgetop Landing Above Clouds.” He tells the story of the photo: “I went flying one morning, only to find my destination socked in by a low cloud layer. I spotted […]
Video: Camera crew targets Kitfox flight to showcase capabilities
Incline Dynamic Outlet (IDO) “leases and operates the worlds smallest, most technologically advanced gyro-stabilized camera platforms”. To showcase their capabilities, IDO’s Nathan Garofalos filmed Trent Palmer flying his Kitfox from a Eurocopter AS350 near Minden, Nevada. Can there be a better target to showcase a products capabilities? We think not.
Change is in the air
Human beings are, by nature, a somewhat dull and pedestrian crowd. They tend to like the status quo and abhor change. If you know any human beings, you’ve no doubt noticed this characteristic of their personalities. Perhaps nothing illustrates this resistance to change the way the global cooling/global warming/climate change argument has. Had the earth’s […]
GAMA calls on Obama administration to issue small airplane certification rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Officials with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association are calling on the Obama administration to issue the final rule to implement the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, noting that the deadline set for the final rule is today, Dec. 15. “Today marks the deadline set by the U.S. Congress more than two years ago […]