Doug Brantner has joined Groom Aviation LLC as a partner in the consulting firm, which is dedicated to the general aviation industry. Brantner’s nearly 20-year executive management career in general aviation, most recently as vice president responsible for Hawker Beechcraft Services, includes operational and financial leadership experiences with aircraft manufacturing, fixed base operations, and after-market […]
Gear fails from fatigue
Total failure of the landing gear retraction/extension assembly. Contributing factors in this accident were worn parts in the landing gear retraction/extension assembly, and mechanical binding of the extension assembly.
Wired.com enamored with electric-powered aircraft
Wired.com writer Jason Paur is enamored with electric-powered aircraft. His story starts with Sometimes history can make you jealous. Imagine what it would have been like, as an aviation buff, to see the Wright brothers fly the Flyer II around Huffman Prairie. Or to stand at Roosevelt Field and watch Charles Lindbergh fade into the […]
Historic plane to become Wichita monument
At Westport Airport on Wichita’s west side (better known to some as Dead Cow International), airport owner Earl V. Long III is touching up an old flying friend, according to a recent AP story in USA Today. Long was hired to turn the retired plane, a Twin Beech Model 18, into a public aviation monument. […]
Branson West Airport to open in fall
Yellow markers crisscross the gravel runway at Branson West Municipal Airport in Missouri warning pilots in the air that the airstrip is not safe to land on, yet. But in just a few months, officials say planes will be landing and taking off when the $16 million general aviation facility opens for business, according to […]
NTSB removes ATC union from Hudson River mid-air investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board has removed the National Air Traffic Controllers Association as a party to its investigation into the Aug. 8 midair collision of two aircraft over the Hudson River that killed nine people. Under the NTSB’s procedures, organizations and agencies are invited to participate in investigations if they can provide technical expertise. […]
Get ready for National Aviation Day
Aug. 19 has been set aside as “National Aviation Day.” Designated in 1939, Orville Wright’s birthday was set aside to celebrate all things aviation, according to blogger Steven Long, who notes at Examiner.com: This year’s holiday may mean even more as recent pressures have threatened General Aviation. Wednesday is a good chance to display the […]
Belite tests carbon fiber wing
Belite Aircraft has completed a series of tests that demonstrated the structural integrity and durability of the aircraft’s carbon fiber wing under loads of up to 4Gs, according to company officials. Conducted at the firm’s Wichita facilities, the tests subjected a carbon fiber wing to progressively increasing G loads to verify that the wing exceeded […]
New runway opens at GFK
A new east-west runway opened for operation Aug. 17 at Grand Forks International Airport (GFK). According to a story in the Grand Forks Herald, the 6.5 million runway will primarily be used for general aviation, mostly University of North Dakota flights.