Heather McNevin, a pilot and air traffic controller from Northfield, Minn., shows her appreciation for the Herpa DC-3 Wednesday at AirVenture. The DC-3’s 75th anniversary is being celebrated at this year’s show, with more than a dozen DC-3s and C-47s parked throughout the grounds.
Accident rates: Improving, but not enough
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt is not happy with the GA accident rate. “The GA numbers, candidly, are not where I would like them to be,” he said during a visit to AirVenture. He did concede that the GA accident rate is actually “trending” better, with constant improvements. “But,” he said, “we’ve set ambitious goals and […]
NextGen: Changing the way GA flies
The Next Generation Air Traffic Control System, known as NextGen, will change the way GA flies, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said during a visit to AirVenture. In fact, the change is as “big a jump as going from a piston to a jet,” he said. NextGen, which will take air traffic control from a radar-based […]
Ready for ADS-B
FreeFlight Systems introduced its line of RANGR 978 MHz ADS-B products, including ADS-B transmitters, transmitters with WAAS GPS, transceivers, and transceivers with WAAS GPS, Wednesday at AirVenture in Oshkosh. The final FAA rule, released in May, dictates an ADS-B compliant system must have a high integrity position source and a radio that sends specific information […]
Low and slow
Flying low and slow, the Goodyear Blimp got a lot of attention at Oshkosh Wednesday afternoon.
Lycoming now taking orders for LSA engine
Lycoming Engines is now taking orders for experimental non-certified versions of its 233 series Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) engine. “The 233-LSA series in an important new engine in Lycoming’s product line, meeting the needs of the growing LSA market,” says Michael Kraft, Lycoming senior vice president and general manager, who notes the engine is capable […]
The ‘deliberate’ certification process
We’ve all heard the old joke: Nothing can be certified in aviation until the paperwork weighs as least as much as the airplane or product. Why is the FAA so tough on certification, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt was asked during a visit to AirVenture. “We’ve actually proven to be quite flexible,” he said, pointing to […]
Baron QuikLink debuts
Baron Services, the parent company of WxWorx, unveiled Baron QuikLink, the company’s subscription-based aviation weather data service for preflight weather analysis, during AirVenture. Supplying graphical weather information over an internet connection, QuikLink provides weather coverage across the continental United States and southern Canada with pricing tiers starting at $14.99 per month. A complement to an […]
Virtual HUD wins LoPresti award
A Virtual HUD (Heads Up Display) developed by Bill Steele was awarded the Roy LoPresti Innovation in Aviation Award on opening day of AirVenture. The low-cost HUD projects critical information on an aircraft’s propeller, putting the images “right in front of the pilot’s eyes,” said Steele, who also has developed the Wingman, a portable display […]