Google, the online everything company, is offering a prize that could reach $30 million to anyone who can send an unmanned vehicle to the Moon, land it there successfully, keep it running through the night, discover ice, transmit data back to Earth, and complete several other interesting tasks by 2012. Like Google itself, the prize […]
A new control tower stands tall
A ribbon cutting on Sept. 25 officially opened the new control tower at Easton, Maryland’s Newnam Field (ESN). Controllers went to work two days later, learning procedures for the state’s second-busiest airport. The tower is scheduled to become operational Oct. 26, almost a month earlier than originally planned. Easton’s is a contract tower, operated under […]
Jacksonville repeals ordinance that bans homebuilding
Education and persistence have paid off for members of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Jacksonville, Fla. For more than a year, EAA members have been fighting a city ordinance that prohibited the parking, storing, repairing, building and operating of aircraft and airboats in residential neighborhoods. On Sept. 25 the City Council voted to repeal the […]
New GA terminal on tap for New Bern, N.C.
Spring will bring a new general aviation facility to Craven Regional Airport (EWN) in New Bern, North Carolina. The bid for construction of the 4,000-square-foot general aviation terminal was recently awarded to local contractor Brydge and Lee Inc. The facility will house FBO Tidewater Air Services, Inc. “The new facility will be twice the size […]
California city considers closing one airport to grow another
At the end of World War II the city of Tracy, Calif., picked up two former military airfields as war surplus. When Uncle Sam deeded the properties to the city, which is about 60 miles east of San Francisco, there were restrictions that the airports remain airports in perpetuity. However, city officials are now asking […]
Fossett presumed dead
The search for missing aviator Steve Fossett in the Nevada desert has been scaled back, while the preliminary report from the NTSB lists the accident as a fatality. Fossett disappeared Sept. 3 while flying near Yerington, Nev. He took off in a Bellanca Super Decathlon for what was supposed to be a three-hour flight, but […]
Cessna pursues purchase of Columbia
Cessna Aircraft Co. has signed a Letter of Intent with Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corp. to acquire selected assets and certain liabilities of the Bend, Ore.-based aircraft manufacturer. Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton noted that “Columbia’s unique capability in the high-end single-engine piston market makes it a perfect complement to our Next Generation […]
First-time author wins award for book on WWII flyers
First-time author wins awardfor book on World War II flyers The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) has named Jane Gardner Birch recipient of its Fifth Annual Combs Gates Award. The first-time author will be recognized with a $20,000 cash award for her soon-to-be-published book, “They Flew Proud,” inspired by the World War II experiences […]
Cessna expands in Georgia
Cessna Aircraft Co. recently broke ground on what will be its third building in Columbus, Ga. The company will invest up to $24 million to expand aircraft subassembly work at Columbus, including construction of an $11 million facility at Muscogee Technology Park. The 100,000-square-foot building is slated to be completed in August 2008. Cessna Columbus […]