John Travolta, the “Official Ambassador of Aviation,” will host the Living Legends of Aviation, an annual aviation recognition event on Jan. 16, 2015 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kiddie Hawk Air Academy recently announced that Michimasa Fujino, founding president and CEO of Honda Aircraft Company, will receive the “Aviation Industry Leader of […]
General Aviation
Thorp destroyed in flight
Aircraft: Thorp T-18. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Pahokee, Fla. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: Family members notified authorities when the airplane was overdue. The wreckage was found in pieces along the route of flight the next day. It was determined that the pilot was operating under visual flight rules while receiving radar traffic advisory […]
What is causing bent rods and sticking valves?
Q: I am acquainted with two IO-540 engines with 1,000-plus hours that have bent rods in the #5 cylinder and stuck valves in the #2 cylinder. One aircraft was manufactured in 2007 and the other in 2009. The oil has always been changed at 50 hours using Exxon Elite 20/50. Any particular thoughts? RICHARD WEICHMAN, via […]
SUN ‘n FUN unveils airshow highlights
Scheduling of airshow performers for the 41st Annual SUN ‘n FUN International Fly-In & Expo, scheduled for April 21-26, 2015, in Lakeland, Fla., is in full swing. Topping the list of performers is the Breitling Jet Team and the USAF Thunderbirds. The Breitling Jet Team will begin their first-ever United States tour at SUN ‘n FUN […]
Spatial disorientation kills four
Aircraft: Piper Matrix. Injuries: 4 Fatal. Location: Greensburg, Ind. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The instrument-rated private pilot was executing a non-precision instrument approach procedure at night in deteriorating weather conditions. According to GPS track data, he executed the approach as published, but descended below the missed approach point’s minimum altitude before executing a […]
Pilot reports: The beginnings
“After running the motor a few minutes to heat it up, I released the wire that held the machine to the track, and the machine started forward into the wind,” reported Orville Wright in the December 1913 issue of Flying magazine. Though possibly not the first pilot report in an aviation journal, it sure is a […]
Michigan pilot becomes youngest TBM 900 owner
Michigan businessman Phillip Bozek recently took delivery of a TBM 900, making him the youngest owner of this new variant in the family of TBM very fast turboprop aircraft. Having learned to fly three years ago, the 28-year-old Bozek runs his family’s lighting business, Conserva Electric Supply, and also is involved in real estate investment. He […]
2015 and beyond: Defining years for general aviation
Flying magazine’s Robert Goyer predicts that the next few years will be “pivotal” ones for general aviation. “From time to time in history, for reasons that are hard to understand even in hindsight, a short period of years becomes the confluence for a number of critical events that one might have seen coming but the […]
FAA deputy administrator new pilot
FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker, who is responsible for helping to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the National Airspace System, recently took his private pilot checkride — and told officials with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association that he “felt the pressure,” noting it “wouldn’t be acceptable” not to pass. In a blog […]