Connecticut legislators have passed a bill insisting that a Connecticut aviator flew two years before the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, N.C. According to an Associated Press report, the measure is the latest twist in an effort to credit the first successful airplane flight to German-born aviator and Bridgeport resident Gustave Whitehead. The legislation is […]
New seaplane dock opens in Tacoma
A new seaplane dock recently opened on Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway. The local daily newspaper, the Tacoma News Tribune, featured a page 1 (above the fold) story and photo about the opening and a question and answer interview with Greg Corrado, vice president of the Washington Seaplane Pilots Association and Chuck Perry and Craig O’Neill, Kenmore Air‘s chief pilot and […]
Laconia Airport Open House a hit
By CAROL LEE ANDERSON NEW HAMPSHIRE — Heavy downpours threatened to create a repeat of last year’s open house at Laconia Municipal Airport (LCI) in Gilford, but as if on cue the rain stopped and the clouds parted just as the doors opened to this year’s Wings, Water & Wheels open house held on June […]
Flying safety and General Aviation Security
Flying safety is the focus of the summer 2013 edition of General Aviation Security, the world’s only magazine to focus on the unique security and safety issues for the general aviation community. “Safety in a flying magazine with the word security in its title makes perfect sense,” stated Dave Hook, publisher of General Aviation Security. […]
Quicksilver partners with IDENT to produce surveillance aircraft
TEMECULA, Calif. — Quicksilver Aeronautics has joined forces with IDENT LLC of Jacksonville, Florida, in a strategic partnership to produce a fleet of GT500 surveillance and intelligence gathering aircraft. “This partnership will result in allowing the very agile GT500 aircraft to perform persistent, rapid response, wide-area surveillance missions that have traditionally been assigned to large, […]
Airforms expands Caravan product line
BIG LAKE, ALASKA — Airforms, Inc. has obtained two additional approvals from the FAA as part of an expanding product line for Cessna Caravan aircraft. Airforms received an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for replacement high-strength wheel assembly hardware, and a Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) for replacement interior cabin vent assemblies. The wheel bolt hardware […]
Departure stall for Cherokee
Aircraft: Piper Cherokee. Injuries: 3 Fatal, 1 Serious. Location: Guntersville, Ala. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The private pilot, 52, had logged at least 500 hours, including 200 in the Cherokee, at the time of the accident. Several witnesses saw the airplane become airborne about two-thirds of the way down the runway. It then […]
Beyond the bumper sticker
Periodically my eye is drawn to a bumper sticker while I’m out driving. Many are aviation oriented — or at least many of the stickers I see are. The slogans are familiar to you as well, I’m sure: “I’d rather be flying.” “My other car is an airplane.” “I love jet noise.” They’re all positive […]
Congressman questions FAA authority to impose fees on AirVenture
In an editorial in the Oshkosh Northwestern newspaper, Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) says the FAA’s demand that the Experimental Aircraft Association pay $500,000 to cover some of the costs of air traffic controllers at the show is “nothing less than another attempt to impose user fees on general aviation — something Congress has rejected numerous […]