KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Santa is scheduled to land at the Air Zoo, Saturday, Dec. 1. In addition to welcoming Santa from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the Air Zoo is also offering a special holiday promotion. When guests purchase a SkySpace Kids Club or supporting Air Zoo membership on Dec. 1, they’ll receive a free […]
The origin of White Lightning
One of the best parts about interviewing someone about their airplane is that after the story is published, someone who has additional information about the airframe will often send a note. After his Ercoupe “White Lightning” was featured in General Aviation News, Kevin Gassert from Cincinnati, Ohio, was lucky enough to hear from Mark Hardin, […]
$30 burger flight and LSA leaseback
A fun thing happened this weekend. Such pleasures occur regularly across the USA where we enjoy so much aviation freedom. This time I got in on part of a weekend fly-out. Plus, I want to celebrate a thriving LSA flight school, another one supported by an arrangement called “leaseback.” First, the successful LSA flight school: […]
More regulations equal higher repair bills
By DALE FORTON. The FAA has once again introduced its new rating system for repair stations, which was dropped in 2001. A major part that will affect general aviation is the potential that the rewrite will require certification of the repair station to be model specific. An example would be the Cessna or Piper product […]
Everything you always wanted to know about starting a flying club…
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Center to Advance the Pilot Community (CAPComm) held the first of a planned monthly series of webinars Nov. 14. The webinar, with 631 registrants, covered what people need to start their own flying club. Webinar speakers were Adam Smith, senior vice president of the Center to Advance the Pilot […]
Contract towers just as safe, but cost less
Air traffic control towers staffed by private contractors are cheaper and provide the same level of safety as towers staffed by government controllers, a new audit by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General concludes. According to a report at CNN.com, contract towers cost on average $537,000 a year to operate, compared with $2 […]
Duncan Aviation Career Day attracts 200
LINCOLN, Neb. — Duncan Aviation recently welcomed 200 students, parents, counselors and teachers to its aviation career day, Adjust Your Altitude. The program was designed to educate, inspire and ignite students’ passion for the aviation industry, company officials said. Adjust Your Altitude gave high school students from Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas the opportunity to meet […]
UniWest debuts 4-frequency Eddy Current portable instrument
UniWest has introduced its US-454A Eddy Current Instrument, which offers single- and multi-frequency Eddy Current (EC) inspection, signal-to-noise ratio, frequency mixing capabilities, USB and Ethernet data storage capability, and digital strip chart data collection. The 454A’s primary advantage is its ability to be integrated into an automated system, according to company officials. Control of the […]
Mountain flight goes bad
ircraft: Aviat A-1B. Injuries: None. Location: Heber City, Utah. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was practicing the procedures for making approaches to backcountry remote airstrips and was flying in approach configuration about 40 to 60 feet over a mountain ridge. Although the wind was light and variable, just as the airplane was […]