NASA and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation have teamed to award the largest technology prize ever offered for general aviation. The organizations have recast the Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) challenge for 2008, renaming it the General Aviation Technology Challenge. Several winners will share in the $300,000 prize purse, funded by NASA, including the […]
Antique fly-in to commemorate air mail anniversary
The Antique Airplane Association, in tandem with the Air Power Museum, will host the 2008 Invitational Fly-In at Antique Airfield (IA27), in Blakesburg, Iowa. The fly-in, slated for Aug. 27 to Sept. 1, will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the beginning of air mail service in the Unites States. “I cannot remember a theme of […]
Kitfox expands
Kitfox Aircraft has broken ground on a new 5,000-square-foot facility at Homedale Airport (S66) in Homedale, Idaho. “It will be a separate building from our current facility,” notes John McBean, CEO. “Business is going very well and we simply need to make room for the future. The ground preparation has been done and after the […]
King Air winglet popularity soars
More than half of the world’s turboprop airplanes are King Airs, which makes the popular Beech line a vast market for the winglets being offered by BLR Aerospace of Everett, Wash. Don’t expect to get a set on your King Air very soon, however, unless you plan to get them from Elliott Aviation or Cutter […]
EAA asks for exemption from E-LSA registration deadline
Citing the FAA’s paperwork backlog and its lack of available inspectors, the Experimental Aircraft Association has filed for an exemption to the Jan. 31, 2008, deadline for the conversion of two-place or “fat” ultralights to certification under the Experimental-Light Sport Aircraft category. In its request, the EAA asks that owners who already have submitted their […]
AvTek celebrates silver anniversary
Mike Peter’s AvTek is celebrating 25 years of developing and producing a variety of aviation products, including pulsing landing lights, door seals, standby electrical systems, panel lighting, electric system alert warning meters and more. Founded in 1983 as Sammamish Valley Avionics in Redmond, Wash., Peter changed the company’s name to AvTek in 1991. He has […]
Former Viking Matt Blair joins Red Tail Project
Former Minnesota Vikings All-Pro linebacker Matt Blair, a 2008 candidate for induction into the Football Hall of Fame and a successful entrepreneur, has become involved in the Red Tail Project. Blair, who owns Matt Blair’s Celebrity Promotions, Inc., says he plans to “help raise awareness, build momentum, and get information out about the Red Tail […]
‘Ruff Stuff’ pilot dies
Norbert C. Ruff, of Bloomer, Wis., died Nov. 28, following a stroke. He was 88. Born in 1919, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940. During the war he was stationed in the South Pacific and flew a P-38 with the 80th Pursuit Group. After the war Ruff left the military and became […]
Swick Clip-T gets new owner
In 1972 Jim and Mike Swift bought a 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12 with an 85-hp engine. The plan was that Mike would use the plane to build his hours to qualify for an airline career. While recovering the aircraft, the brothers decided to do some modifications to it, including clipping the wings. Other modifications followed, including […]