Want to find someone to share expenses with, but don’t know where to start? Try PilotShareTheRide.com. The website, started by Baldy Ivy, a working cowboy in Northern Arizona who uses a 1941 Taylorcraft to fly his ranch land, the website is designed to help pilots share their love of flying, as well as the expenses […]
The bottom line
How much does product liability add to the cost of an airplane these days? Even the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) isn’t sure. “We do not know anyone who has those numbers. We are looking for them as well,” says Katie Pribyl, GAMA’s director of communications. “Prior to GARA, Beech Aircraft estimated that the cost […]
Copperstate Fly-In wows crowds
The 33rd annual Copperstate Regional EAA Fly-In, held this year for the first time at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ) in Arizona, was a hit with pilots and vendors. Vendors especially appreciated the air conditioned exhibit hall, which was packed with more than 100 booths featuring everything from avionics and maintenance support products to aircraft […]
Virginia EAA Fly-In shines
Clear and sunny weather after two years of hurricanes drew about 3,000 visitors to see what was new — and old — in aviation at the Virginia Regional EAA Fly-in earlier this month, at Dinwiddie County Airport in Petersburg, Va. Nearly 500 aircraft flew in during the weekend from states up and down the Eastern […]
How Skunk Works got its name
The term “Skunk Works” is synonymous with the research and development department of the Lockheed Martin Co. But where did the term come from? And what does a non-flying woodland creature have to do with aviation? There have been many stories over the years about the name’s origin: It evolved from a comic strip or […]
Order in the court: Are lawsuits — frivolous or otherwise — to blame for the high cost of flying?
A small airplane crashes in a thunderstorm. The passengers who survive the crash sue the pilot’s estate for negligence. The pilot’s family files a lawsuit against the FAA, the National Weather Service and the FBO claiming the weather briefing the pilot got from the FBO and Flight Service was not accurate as to the severity […]
Cessna 190: A classic from the day it rolled off the assembly line
“A classic from the day it rolled off the assembly line.” That’s how owners of Cessna 190s and 195s describe their machines. The cantilevered, high-wing, round-cowled airplanes were among the first to be mass-produced as America shifted back to a peacetime economy after World War II, yet because they evolved from the 1930s AirMaster, the […]
Young Eagles crash kills three
Three people taking part in a Young Eagles rally in Washington State died Oct. 15 in the crash of a Piper Cherokee. It was the first fatal accident in the 13-year history of the Young Eagles program. Pilot David Hokanson, Kandyce Cowart, 14, and Brittany Boatright, 15, were killed shortly after takeoff from Snohomish County […]
Daley to dig up the dead
How would you feel if your city government wanted to dig up and relocate the graves of your loved ones to expand an airport? The congregation of St. John’s Church of Christ in Chicago is taking a dim view of the idea. The church has gone to court to keep O’Hare International Airport (ORD) from […]