General Aviation News

You don’t want to use last year’s NOTAM when planning your flight into Sun ‘n Fun 2006. This year’s arrival procedures include some important changes. The easiest online link to the new NOTAM is at Sun-N-Fun.org. It leads directly to the official FAA site. Before you press “print” be aware that the NOTAM is 36 […]

Victor Wokal of Glasgow, Mont., died Jan. 15. Known to a broad range of pilots simply as Vic, he started Wokal Flying Service at his native Bowman, N.D., in 1944 and bought the FBO at Glasgow in 1962, later moving there. He was a Cessna dealer at both airports, Glasgow’s airport manager for many years, […]

Ilovene Potter, a distinguished Washington State pilot, died Feb. 14 at the age of 87. Potter learned to fly in the 1940s at the urging of her husband, Leslie, who was a pilot. She and her husband made their living in the aviation industry. She was the first woman in Washington State to earn a […]

Ralph Nelson, one of the founding members of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) and a major influence in the development of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Foundation, died Feb. 22 at the age of 71. Nelson worked his way through the University of Illinois as a flight instructor. In 1958 […]

Jay Carter’s innovative CarterGyro “personal air vehicle” will be introduced at Sun ‘n Fun, following a demonstration at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Sun ‘n Fun, slated for April 4-10, will be the last stop on a flight called FutureFlight I. The CarterGyro is based on an earlier personal air vehicle built under a NASA […]

Although Meigs Field is gone, at least part of the property will be returned to aviation use. The city of Chicago plans to open a heliport for emergency services on the site of the former lakeside airport. The heliport will not be open to the public, but intended for use by private contractors only. The […]

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will host the 2006 National Training Aircraft Symposium March 22-24. The meeting will spotlight new training equipment, the impact of VLJs, sport aircraft and new training methods for technically advanced aircraft.

Eclipse Aviation Corp. has won the National Aeronautic Association’s 2005 Robert J. Collier Trophy. One of aviation’s most prestigious awards, the trophy will be presented “for leadership, innovation, and the advancement of general aviation” in the production of Very Light Jets (VLJs), specifically, the Eclipse 500.

A court case between Farnborough Aircraft and Aircraft Investor Resources, parent company of Epic Aircraft, ended last month with Farnborough gaining possession of its F.1 – or Kestrel JP100, depending on who’s talking – prototype, which AIR was building for Farnborough. Farnborough employees moved the prototype from Epic’s Bend, Ore., plant to another hangar, where […]