There’s encouraging news mixed with some discouragement in AOPA’s annual Nall Report on aviation safety. The good news is a 10-year trend downward in general aviation accidents, from 7.19 per 100,000 hours flown in 1997 to 6.32 in 2006. In fact, the report states, 2006 was the safest year in the history of general aviation. […]
Spreading the good news: Wolf Aviation Fund supports projects promoting GA
You wouldn’t think a group called Stumps R Us has anything in common with the Air Care Alliance or a show for school kids telling the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to earn her pilot’s license. But each of these is one of the 170 winners of grants from the Wolf Aviation […]
Pearl Harbor photos donated to Museum of Flight
A Washington state resident who snapped the first photographs of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has donated them to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The images, shot by Lee Embree, will be on permanent display. At the time of the attack, Embree was a staff sergeant and photographer with the Army Air Corps. […]
Online search and rescue site launched
Although the search for millionaire adventurer and pilot Steve Fossett has been unsuccessful so far, there has been a positive outcome. When Fossett went missing, satellite technology and the Internet allowed “searchers” anywhere in the world to study the search area remotely. It was the first time the method had been utilized. As a result, […]
Is a computer required equipment to fl y? How can aircraft owners without computers access AD’s
You might think that these days a desk-top computer is as common in a maintenance hangar as a set of wrenches, but it’s not so. There are still some licensed aircraft mechanics who don’t utilize cyberspace. That can make it difficult to find out about Airworthiness Directives that affect the aircraft they are working on. […]
ATG halts Javelin development
The personal jet market just got a little smaller as Aviation Technology Group discontinued development of its Javelin due to cash flow issues. The Colorado-based company issued a press release Dec. 18 that stated: “ATG, with help from a Wall Street banking institution, has been seeking funding to continue its Javelin high performance business jet […]
Texas Fly-In cancelled
You can scratch the Southwest Regional Fly-In, also known as the Texas Fly-In, off your to-do list in 2008. The fly-in’s directors recently decided to cancel the event, which was slated for Oct. 10-11 at Hondo, Texas. It had been a staple in the southwestern aviation community since the 1960s. Fly-In Chairman and CEO Stan […]
Frasca celebrates 50th anniversary
Simulator manufacturer Frasca International celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. “I founded Frasca International in 1958 after working as a flight simulator instructor and maintenance engineer in the Navy,” said Rudy Frasca, president. The company has delivered more than 2,000 simulators to flight schools, airlines and the military in 70 countries around the world since […]
Neil Armstrong honored at Purdue University
A bronze sculpture of Neil Armstrong was recently unveiled at Indiana’s Purdue University. The sculpture is in front of the university’s new engineering research and education building, which is named for the first astronaut to walk on the moon. Artist Chas Fagan, from Charlotte, N.C., created the work. The sculpture of Armstrong, depicted as an […]