Wings for Children, a non-profit organization headquartered near Pittsburgh, is on the hunt for pilots — especially those who own their own planes. The 12-year-old organization flies sick children to medical treatment within 500 nm of Pittsburgh. 412-401-4529 or 800-743-5527.
Mermaid earns S-LSA certificate
The FAA has certified the factory-built Mermaid as a Special Light Sport Aircraft. The amphibious aircraft is built in the Czech Republic by Czech Aircraft Works of Stare Mesto, and distributed in the United States by Sport Aircraft Works of Palm City, Fla. Deliveries are slated to begin this month.
2005 a record year for Columbia
2005 was a record-breaking year for Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corp., with deliveries of its 350 and 400 aircraft up 68%. Columbia delivered 115 planes in 2005, a year that officials are calling a “turning point” in the company’s history.
T211, T11 add BRS chutes
Indus Aviation Inc. of Dallas, which produces the T211 Thorpedo and T11 Sky Skooter, has added parachute recovery systems from Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) to its models. Indus also will act as a dealer for BRS in India, supplying parachute systems for other aircraft in that country, where GA is on the fast track.
Major improvements planned for California’s Flabob AIrport
A multi-million-dollar project at Flabob Airport in Riverside, Calif., will add new educational facilities, an aviation business park and a residential airpark to the historic airport. Undertaken by the Thomas Wathen Foundation, the project starts with new facilities for the aeronautical department of San Bernardino Valley College, which plans to move to Flabob in the […]
Your latest weather, sponsored by NASA
Weather forecasters in the middle of the United States are making better local predictions for pilots thanks to an airborne sensor being tested by NASA’s Aviation Safety Program. Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., led the team that designed, built and equipped dozens of Mesaba Airlines planes with the Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data […]
Flying into the nation’s busiest airspace? Want a sneak peak?
Thinking about tackling the crowded skies around Atlanta? Get a sneak peek of what you’re in for at ATCMonitor.com. The website recently expanded its coverage of the airspace surrounding Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world’s busiest air terminal, adding near real-time radar video and pilot-controller radio communications from the Atlanta regional Terminal Radar Approach Control […]
A quick course on patents
As an active pilot and patent attorney, I enjoyed reading “Texas pilot patents flying motorcycle,” in the Feb. 3, 2006, issue. The article explains that Larry Neal of The Butterfly LLC in Texas recently acquired a new patent to his “flying motorcycle.” After reading the article, I located Mr. Neal’s new patent on the Patent Office website: it’s […]
Another Chicago airport will be a white elephant
I want to take issue with Charles Spence’s comments about the (perhaps) third Chicago Airport (Capital Comments, Jan. 6 issue). Jesse Jackson Jr.’s “Suburban Coalition” consists of ZERO communities in Will County, where the airport is planned. It does include some towns around O’Hare, who will do anything to keep O’Hare from expanding. The fact […]