Ballistic Recovery Systems has named Larry E. Williams president and CEO. For the past four years, Williams was vice president of business development for AmSafe Aviation, which manufactures restraints, including air bags for airplanes.
NASA offers icing guide
Worried about winter flying? NASA now offers “A Pilot’s Guide to In-Flight Icing,” a free, on-line course intended for the GA pilot. The course provides tools pilots can use to deal with in-flight icing. Emphasis is on avoidance, detection and exit, as well as the effects of ice accretion on performance and handling and the […]
From boxes to flying in less than 3 months, with Glasairs help
Want to build your own aircraft, but don’t want to wait years to fly? New Builder Assist Centers are popping up for all manufacturers, including Glasair Aviation. The Arlington, Wash.-based company’s Customer Assembly Center makes it possible for a pilot to build an aircraft in less than three months. The program is “intense,” according to […]
Lancair discounts builder assist program
On the kit-side of the house, Lancair is offering a $3,000 discount on a kit and one week of Builders Assist for free if four weeks are purchased— if you pay by Dec. 31.
Columbia 400 cleared to FL250
Lancair’s Columbia 400 has been certified for operation up to 25,000 feet. The certification is retroactive to existing aircraft in the Columbia 400 fleet with the installation of a few new components, including a nose wheel pant, two stall strips, a placard and a new Pilot’s Operating Handbook. These components will be standard equipment on […]
FAA to issue new certificates
Buried in the recently-passed Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act is a provision requiring the FAA to issue new pilot certificates within a year. The certificates must be resistant to tampering and counterfeiting and include a photo of the pilot. The bill does not require pilots to replace existing certificates with new photo certificates immediately. […]
Cessna opens world’s largest GA maintenance facility
Cessna must be feeling optimistic about the future. The company just opened the world’s largest GA maintenance facility, the Wichita Citation Service Center. The center, which took three years to build, has more than 443,000 square feet and can service more than 100 Citations simultaneously. The 1,600-foot-long building is equivalent to 2-1/2 city blocks or […]
FAA grounds entire T-34 fleet
The FAA grounded the entire T-34 fleet after it discovered that cracks on the wing spar led to the crash of a Texas Air Aces T-34 earlier this month. An Emergency AD, issued Dec. 10, grounds about 320 Beech A-34 and T-34 aircraft. The AD allows aircraft to be flown back to home base or […]
Dream no small dreams
“Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Regular readers of this column recognize that I am not one to offer such lofty ideas and proposals, but when I saw this the other day I knew it fit general aviation perfectly. I read this […]