Aircraft manufacturers that use Garmin’s G1000 are experiencing production slow downs. About 300 employees from Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corp. in Bend, Ore., were furloughed Aug. 13 as production ground to a halt because of supplier woes. According to Columbia officials, Garmin notified them the first week of August of an inherent problem in the Attitude, […]
Grant awarded to project designed to eliminate 100LL
Tom Ehresman, an inventor from Loveland, Colo., was awarded a 2007 Lindbergh-Lycoming Grant for his project to eliminate the use of leaded avgas. Ehresman is developing a direct injection igniter fuel nozzle that would allow jet fuel, diesel and other types of fuels to be used in high-performance aircraft piston engines. Ehresman, chosen from 150 […]
AirVenture by the numbers
Attendance: Estimated at 560,000, an increase of about 3.2% from 2006. Aircraft: More than 10,000 aircraft flew in for the big show to Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other airports in the area. Total showplanes: 2,647, which includes 985 homebuilts, 1,014 vintage airplanes, 365 warbirds, 136 ultralights, 117 seaplanes and 30 rotorcraft. Exhibitors: 784 […]
AirVenture 2007: Our picks for the best of show
This year’s AirVenture was one of the busiest on record, with major product unveilings and announcements coming thick and fast throughout the week. As veterans of the big show, GAN staffers were impressed by the huge crowds from day one. Also impressive was the obvious interest shown by everyone, from industry representatives to the media […]
Pipistrel Virus takes top prize at first PAV challenge
A modified version of a Pipistrel Virus owned by Vance Turner of Rescue, Calif., was the big winner in the first Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) Challenge held earlier this month at Charles Schultz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) near Santa Rosa, Calif. NASA put up $250,000 in prize money for the inaugural event, which was hosted by […]
New Orleans Lakefront tower reopens
New Orleans Lakefront tower reopened July 30 for the first time since Hurricane Katrina shut down its operations in 2005. Even without the tower, the airport was handling 160 operations a day, said airport manager R. W. Taylor. With the tower again operational, traffic is expected to climb rapidly, largely from business operators, he said. […]
Manufacturers post strong numbers
GA airplane shipments and billings for the first half of 2007 totaled 1,883, a 1.7% increase over the same period last year, with billings rising 11.7% to $9.8 billion, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Shipments of piston planes were down slightly from the same period last year to 1,226, a 4.2% decrease. Turboprop […]
the buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
“We’re making it personal. The Cessna SkyCatcher — that’s what ‘it’ is and that is what it does.” — Jack Pelton, Cessna president and CEO “We did it again.” — Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation, when introducing the Eclipse Concept jet “We need to make flying easier.” — Alan Klapmeier, co-founder of […]
Survivor: AirVenture
Well, I survived one more Oshkosh experience! As I have for just about every year since 1970, I journeyed to Oshkosh for the annual EAA aviation extravaganza the last week of July. As usual, there was a huge crowd of planes, campers and people on hand. I don’t have any sort of count, but let […]