Donald C. Downie was recently inducted into the Arizona Aerospace Foundation’s Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame, which is housed at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson. Also inducted this year were Harold L. “Bud” Abrams, Ralph S. Johnson and James Vercellino. Downie, a full-time aviation writer and photographer since before World War II, […]
Project Pilot redux
A student pilot who has a mentor is three times as likely to finish training and stay involved in aviation. That, says AOPA Executive Vice President Jeff Myers, is the reason his organization is reviving – and has revised substantially – its Project Pilot. Project Pilot encourages experienced pilots to mentor students during their flight […]
Texas Fly-In bigger and better than ever
By every measure, the 42nd Annual EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In was bigger and better than at any other time over the past 10 years, according to officials of the event, also known as the Texas Fly-In. Attendance for the two-and-a-half-day fly-in, held May 11-14, was 6,100, a 35% increase over 2005 and a 52% increase […]
World Championship Flour Bombing Compeition slated
Medford Air Service will host the “World Championship Flour Bombing Competition” June 24-25 at Rogue Valley International Airport (RVI) in Medford, Ore. The competition is a revival of a practice started during World War I when, in lieu of live ordnance, Army pilots would use “flour bombs” to learn accurate bombing. After the war, flour […]
Audit of FSS transition begins
The Transportation Department’s inspector general launched an audit in May of the FAA’s transition of Flight Service Station services to Lockheed Martin. Last February, the FAA awarded a five-year contract, with another five-year option, to Lockheed Martin to operate 58 FSS. The company plans to consolidate those stations into 20 facilities. At the time, the […]
Renaissance Aircraft moves to Flabob
Renaissance Aircraft is setting up shop at Flabob Airport (RIR) in Riverside, Calif., to produce the Luscombe 8. According to Renaissance spokesman John Dearden, the company plans to move into a temporary hangar so that it can begin aircraft construction immediately. Dearden noted that the legal wrangling between Renaissance Aircraft and The Don Luscombe Aviation […]
Last flight for the Global Flyer
After flying all the way around the world and setting two distance records, the flight from Salina, Kan., to Chantilly Va., to deliver the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer for display in an aerospace museum must have seemed anti-climactic for millionaire pilot adventurer Steve Fossett. Fossett delivered the carbon fiber aircraft designed by Burt Rutan to […]
Congressional panel takes first step to protect airports
A House panel charged with funding the FAA recently rejected the Bush administration’s proposed $1 billion budget cut for airport improvement spending. The Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee recommended a congressionally authorized funding level of $3.7 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). Under federal spending formulas, if AIP spending falls below $3.2 billion, annual entitlements […]
70th anniversary of Blenheim Bomber’s first flight
It was 70 years ago, on June 25, 1936, when the first flight of the Bristol Blenheim bomber took place at Filton, near Bristol, England. It was the first all-metal, stressed-skin aircraft ordered for the Royal Air Force and was destined to play an important part in World War II. It was, interestingly, a private […]